


The Peace Inside My Soul

by ToriWritesStories



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Cheryl doesn't know that she's gay at first, Cheryl is a dancer, Cheryl is broke, Cheryl's parents cut her off, Coming Out, Dancer Cheryl, Dancing, Drama, Eventual Smut, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Mild Hurt/Comfort, POV Alternating, Personal Growth, Photographer Toni, Romance, Smut, Toni is in Cheryl's dance class, choni, dance, dance class, post-college
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-07
Updated: 2020-02-02
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:40:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 81,967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21706099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ToriWritesStories/pseuds/ToriWritesStories
Summary: Toni Topaz works in her best friend Veronica Lodge's company as a photographer and web developer, and she's felt content with her life for a while now. The only thing she's been missing is a relationship, but she hasn't really thought much of it. That is, until Veronica drags her out to a dance performance, where she is immediately astounded by a gorgeous redhead whose body moves like no other. Cheryl Blossom, the dancer in question, has shut out virtually everyone, and her life revolves around dancing, and teaching dancing. When Veronica convinces Toni to join a dance class, Cheryl and Toni meet, and begin to change each other's lives.
Relationships: Cheryl Blossom/Toni Topaz, Fangs Fogarty/Kevin Keller, Veronica Lodge/Sweet Pea
Comments: 145
Kudos: 483





	1. The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!! Welcome to this new story! For those of you who don't know me, my name is Tori, and this is my second Choni fic that I've posted! (My previous one is "She Didn't Know It Then" :D )  
> SKIPPABLE NOTE:  
> If you've read my works before, I know what you're thinking: where have I been??  
> The answer isn't very exciting. I've been in the same place this whole time, college. And I can't even use that for an excuse as to why I haven't posted in about a YEAR. This is the longest I've gone without posting anything on fanfiction since I was 13 YEARS OLD. So, needless to say, it's been weird for me to be away. I've tried so many times to get something worth posting on the page, but until this story, nothing would ever make it past the beginning stages of writing.
> 
> PLEASE DON'T SKIP THIS PART:  
> You can all rest easy, though, because this story is COMPLETE. I will not be posting it all at once, but it will be posted probably every few days as I remember. I release sneak peeks and whatnot before each chapter, so they cannot be daily, unfortunately.  
> Just one important note before we start: Cheryl doesn't know she's gay yet. Please understand, this won't last long. I don't know how the Choni fandom is about this, but some fandoms hate it when it seems like one character's sexuality doesn't match up with canon. I promise, she's gay, she just doesn't know yet.
> 
> Alright! Sorry to keep you busy up here! Please, enjoy the first chapter of "The Peace Inside My Soul," and please leave a comment letting me know what you think of the starting setup of the story :)

Cheryl Blossom looked at herself in the mirror, poised in the starting pose she had been perfecting every day for weeks. She could hardly see the girls around her as she focused on her position and her even breathing, counting in her head before the music even started. Seeing her body move before it needed to, preparing herself for the coming three minutes.

Then the music started, and her body began to move without any hesitation. She moved fluidly, yet sharply, the way she’d been trained to. In perfect sync with the music and the dancers around her. Her breathing kept in time with her counts and her movements. She could close her eyes during parts of the dance and still move flawlessly. She was in complete control, and it was moments like these that she loved the most.

In the final part of the dance, she shut down her gaze as she completed the last movement, freezing in position and letting her breathing catch up to her body. Her eyes flickered back open, meeting her own gaze in the mirror. Her long, red hair appeared windblown, her brown eyes looking simultaneously energized and eerily calm—and appearance that she had spent years perfecting.

A slow clap began off to her right, and she finally broke out of her trance as she and the other dancers turned to look at Quince, their director. “That was great, ladies,” he said. “Now let’s take five, and when you get back, I wanna see it again with a little more… _vibrance_ , okay? Especially you, Hannah.” Cheryl glanced at Hannah, who nodded stiffly. She was the newest member of the group, and she was having a bit of a hard time catching up. She was young, but only a couple of years younger than Cheryl, who was twenty-three. But Cheryl had been a part of this group for two years now.

Later that night, they had their first Fall Performance, and all of the dance groups of the New York Dance Hall and Studio, or DHS, as the members called it, would be performing. That meant that the Pixies Group—Cheryl’s group—would be performing this dance that she and her fellow dancers had been perfecting for around a month. At the end of the performance, the classes taught at DHS would also be giving recitals, including Cheryl’s hip-hop class she’d been teaching this fall.

It was going to be a good night, that was for sure, and she was taking it incredibly seriously, as per usual. Rumor was that the directors of DHS were working with Broadway, and that there could be a spot for a lead dancer on the big stage. Cheryl was genuinely unsure if these rumors were legitimate, but she would be damned if she wouldn’t work hard to impress anyway.

After their five minute break, they met back up on the dance floor, and Cheryl stared at herself in the mirror once again. Her pale face, but flushed cheeks. Her plump, red lips. Her flowing hair, her steeled eyes. She poised herself perfectly, and when the music started, she didn’t miss a single step.

* * *

“Sometimes I wish we were still in high school, where we could dance all morning and stay after school for more dance, and literally just pretend like we could be professional dancers one day,” Veronica complained to a tired Toni, who had almost backed out of even coming with her friend to this thing.

“You wish you were a professional dancer?” Toni inquired doubtfully.

They were waiting in line to enter the performance hall of the New York Dance Hall and Studio, and Toni was lounging against the wall as Veronica stood tall in her form black dress and heals. Toni was dressed formally as well, of course, although she looked just a little bit less like she had just gotten out of a business meeting.

“I mean, no, I completely love my job,” Veronica admitted.

Toni laughed. “Oh really? You love your job as CEO and Owner of your own fashion line? I had no idea!”

“Oh shut up, you,” Veronica huffed. “You better love my job too, considering that it’s what gives you yours!”

“Whoa, whoa, you may officially be my big boss, but I earned my job,” Toni argued. She was the lead photographer for the fashion line, which she honestly wasn’t sure was a real job at most fashion lines. So maybe she did really owe her whole job to Veronica, but if that was the truth, Veronica didn’t say so again.

“Yeah, yeah,” Veronica said, waving her hand at Toni dismissively. “Anyway, I’m just saying, I miss dancing. I love coming to these performances. They’re better than Broadway, in my opinion.”

Toni looked at her in surprise. “Better than Broadway, huh? Isn’t it just dancing?”

“Yes, and sometimes it’s better than that.”

“Isn’t it a dance studio? It’s like… recitals for classes, right?” Toni was now wondering if she had come to this event completely clueless about what it was.

“Well, sort of. I’ve been to this one a few seasons in a row now. They have professional groups that the Hall sponsors, and they perform first. And then, the Studio’s classes get to perform as well. And from what I understand, the big season performances that happen four weeks a year are what largely help fund them for the rest of the season,” Veronica stated, sounding very well informed.

“Wow, you sound very interested in it. Are you sure you haven’t been contemplating quitting your job and joining a dance group? Because you really should warn a girl before you do that…” Toni was, of course, joking, but Veronica looked at her seriously.

“Well, _actually_ , I was thinking about providing a donation to the DHS… like maybe some sort of deal for advertising?”

“I don’t think it’s called a donation when it’s a deal, Ronnie.”

“Whatever. I just love watching them perform, and I want to contribute,” Veronica explained, shaking her head. “You better stop killing my mood, Toni. I’m here to enjoy some dancing and you agreed to come with me, so you better be quiet and enjoy the dancing too.”

The line finally began moving, and Toni laughed as they started toward the entrance of the performance hall. “I’m sure I’ll enjoy it.”

Veronica had bought them tickets in the best part of the audience—according to the raven-haired Latina, anyway—and as they sat near-front and center, Toni’s eyes wandered the room, taking it all in. It was a huge performance hall, with a second floor for the audience as well. The stage was huge, but even from near the front of the audience, there was a perfect view somehow. “It’s pretty impressive, huh?” Veronica asked. “The first I brought Reggie, he was gaping at all of it the whole time. It was quite adorable, actually…”

Toni eyed her friend. Reggie was now the newest _ex-boyfriend_ in Veronica’s life, and they’d broken up only a week ago. Toni knew that he was the one who was supposed to be here with her, which was the driving force behind Toni actually agreeing to attend. “Hey, don’t think about him. Think about all the talented, and probably gorgeous, girls and guys we’re about to see shaking their asses on this stage… or is this all classical shit?”

That got a laugh from her friend, and Veronica shook her head. “No, it’s a pretty good mix.”

“Good.” Toni smiled at Veronica, and then reached over to gently squeeze her hand.

It wasn’t too long later that the house lights dimmed, and the stage lights came on. An Asian man wearing a bright red suit walked out onto stage, a microphone in hand, and said, “Hello, good evening, and welcome to the New York Dance Hall and Studio’s Fall Performance!” Light applause broke out across the massive hall. “This is our first performance of the week, and we are thrilled that you are here to join us. There will be an intermission halfway through the night with light refreshments in the foyer, and we ask that you please save any phone calls for that time.”

He went on with a few more polite reciting of policies and whatnot, and Toni tuned him out. Finally, though, he walked off stage, and the stage lights went dark. The entire house sat in complete silence for a moment—you could hear a pin drop—and then the stage curtains began to draw back, and spotlights appeared.

The first performance was a ballet, and Toni thought it was beautiful, but she quickly began to get bored. She'd had a feeling that this would happen, but when she glanced at Veronica, she could tell that her friend did not share that same feeling. She was utterly entranced by the dancers, and Toni wondered for a moment if the Latina legitimately wanted to join one of these dance groups.

The second group was another ballet, and Toni was about ready to fall right asleep for the evening. Of course, she did her best to keep her eyes open.

By the third dance, she was fully prepared to zone out completely, until the stage lights came on to reveal six women in tight black shorts, pantyhose underneath, and a simple red leotard. But it wasn’t the outfit that immediately caught her attention, no, it was one of the women, the one in the center to the right, with long red hair and those _long_ legs. Toni immediately felt her eyes locking onto the woman, who was frozen so perfectly in her starting position.

Toni prepared for the sound of ballet music, but instead, a newer song played. It was pop, something that Toni didn’t always listen to, but as the music started, the women started moving, and Toni couldn’t have cared less about the music. All she cared about was the movement of that beautiful redhead’s long legs, the perfect movements of the dance. Her leaps, kicks, spins—almost like a ballet, but somehow much more modern. Around the chorus on the song, it became even more like a hip-hop dance, and Toni was sure that she was drooling.

There were six dancers on the stage, but Toni couldn’t keep her eyes off of the redhead.

The song ended with an abrupt stop, the women all freezing into their final positions, and Toni swore that the redhead’s brown eyes met hers. It was probably all in her head, though, because it lasted only a second, and then the curtains were closing. Applause filled the room, and for the first time, Toni actually felt the energy as she applauded as well.

“Well, I see someone likes the Pixies,” Veronica whispered with a chuckle.

“The Pixies?” Toni asked, confused.

“That group is called the Pixies. They’re so hot, right?”

Toni nodded, taking mental note of the dance group name.

Toni was sure that the rest of the dances would not live up to that of the Pixies, and she was right. The most interesting part that happened after their dance was intermission. Toni snacked on the mini sandwiches and cookies while she talked with Veronica, and she secretly hoped that the dancers would come out and enjoy the refreshments as well. She wanted to catch a glimpse of the redhead offstage.

No such luck, though, and after intermission, Toni had to sit through a number of considerably less impressive performances—the ones by the classes. When the event came to a close, two of the dancers from the Pixies came out onto the stage with microphones, but to Toni’s disappointment, the redhead was not one of them.

“Hi, everyone! My name is Therese, I’m a dance teacher here at DHS, and a member of the Pixies, and this is Hannah, another member of the Pixies! We wanted to thank you again for coming out to support our first show of this fall season! Please spread the word that we have _five_ more shows this week! Same time every night through Saturday!” One of them said.

“Also, please make sure to see the flyers by the exits,” the other girl continued, “to see how you can become a sponsor for DHS, or join our dance classes! Thanks everyone! Have a great night!”

And with that, the mass exodus from the hall began, and Toni and Veronica clung to each other as they maneuvered through the craziness. “That was so amazing!” Veronica exclaimed. “Right?”

“Yeah, it was pretty cool,” Toni replied with a nod.

“I should grab one of those fliers and see about becoming a sponsor,” Veronica said thoughtfully. “I’ve been thinking about it a lot since what happened with me and Reggie. Now that I’m not spending money on _him_ , I should spend it on something that actually puts beauty into the world.”

That’s how it had been with Veronica talking about Reggie since they broke up—one second, she was missing him, and the next, she’d be talking about how terrible he was. Toni just nodded along and followed Veronica to the exit. The Latina grabbed one of the fliers and then they left the hall, and headed out of the building.

“Sorry it wasn’t everything you hoped for,” Veronica apologized, “but thank you for coming with me.”

“Yeah of course,” Toni replied. “It was cool, just a lot of ballet and stuff. That’s not really my thing.”

“Did you want to grab food before you head home?” Veronica asked. They were out on the streets of New York City now, stopping to call a cab. “Or are you too tired?”

“I think the latter,” Toni admitted. “I’ve got an early shoot tomorrow, so I should probably just get home and eat something small before I go to bed.”

A cab drove up in front of them. “Alright, you take this one then. Thanks again for coming, Toni! Have a good night.”

“Thanks, you too,” Toni returned, getting into the cab and giving the cabbie her building address.

Although the whole show had not left much of an impression on Toni, she could not get that one group out of her head—the Pixies. She could not stop picturing that red head’s beautiful leaps and kicks and how her body moved.

And she had no idea how she would get her out of her head.

* * *

At the end of the show, Cheryl was feeling a mix between post-show excitement, and also just tired. Although she’d only performed the one time during the whole show, her whole day had been filled with last minute dress rehearsals, and she definitely needed rest now.

She stayed through the entire show, though, so that she could give her class a pep talk before they went on stage, and then congratulate them afterward. She also stayed late to clean up the studio rooms from their long day. When she finally left, she was definitely ready for bed.

As she left the building though, her eye caught on a man leaning against the wall, who looked up as soon as she stepped out. “Cheryl!” he said brightly.

“Timothy,” Cheryl replied curtly. “Were you at the show?”

“Yes! You did amazing. I was hoping to congratulate you after, but I forgot that you were cleaning up after. I texted… but I guess you didn’t see it.”

She had seen it, but she’d been too busy to reply to it.

“Anyway, I wanted to congratulate you in person, so I decided to wait for you,” he told her with a smile. He was a nice guy, and he didn’t look half bad. Black hair and brown eyes, almost as pale as Cheryl. His features were too angular though, and although she had been out on a couple of dates with him lately, she wasn’t very into him. She had a feeling that he didn’t feel the same.

“Well, thank you.”

“I was thinking… maybe I could come over? Give you a proper congratulations?”

“I really should get to sleep,” Cheryl told him. “Tomorrow is almost as busy as today.”

“I know, I know… but I figured that tonight would be the best night for it… since by the end of the week I’m sure you’ll want to sleep for days…”

Cheryl sighed. “You’re paying for a cab.” Normally, she would take the subway home from the studio, but it was late, and if she could get a free cab right home, she might as well have Timothy over.

Of course, she knew what the night would be. They got to her apartment, drank half a bottle of wine, and then he took Cheryl to bed. The wine helped her be a little more excited at the prospect of sex with him—Cheryl was a bit of a lightweight too, so she could feel the buzz after a glass—but this was the third time she’d had sex with him, and it really was less and less exciting every time.

She practically zoned out as he fucked her, and she didn’t even try to fake it, and he didn’t seem to even notice. She decided that sometime later this week, she would text him and tell him that they had to stop seeing each other.

This is how it went with boys for Cheryl. She tried to give one a chance, but quickly became beyond bored and let them down a little less than gently. She understood why most of them took it so hard—she was gorgeous, and they saw her as a catch that they had to have.

After the sex, Cheryl looked at Timothy and said, “I have to be up early tomorrow, so you should go.”

“Oh, okay,” he said with a nod. “Well, goodnight Cheryl. I’ll text you tomorrow.”

“Okay.”

She walked him out, but only to lock the door behind him, and then she padded into her bathroom and stepped into the shower. She washed her hair and her body and face, and then got out, dried off, finished getting ready for bed, and finally collapsed into her bed, alone this time.

She thought not of any person as she went to sleep, but instead, she thought of dancing. The routine she knew so well, going through it step by step, until she finally drifted off to sleep.


	2. The Dreams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toni finds herself having some interesting dreams about the dancer she saw perform. Veronica has a new idea for a way to spend her free time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey lovelies! It's update time!  
> I literally almost forgot to update, but here I am!  
> The new update schedule: Update goes up, sneak peek for next chapter goes up. The next day, early update goes up. The next day, repeat. For you guys, this means updates every 3 days. If you want sneak peeks and early updates, head over to my Twitter @BrittzandTana to see how to get them.  
> Thank you for all of your positive feedback on the first chapter! I really hope you all keep enjoying!! xx

Tuesday morning, the morning after the performance that Toni had gone to with Veronica, Toni actually woke up with her mind clear. It was a surprise, honestly, because she’d had a not very PG dream about a certain redhead she’d seen for the first time the day before. The mystery girl from the Pixies dance group, whose name she didn’t even know. The dream had been rather detailed—Toni pulling on long locks of fiery hair, the redhead’s strong thighs squeezing her… yeah, it was hot. But despite that, she woke up feeling more or less ready to start her day.

She had a shoot that morning for the V. C. Lodge website of some of the winter wear. It was midway through fall, and since winter wasn’t such a big deal fashion season, it wasn’t as crazy of an announcement as the fall line, but it did warrant its own photoshoot.

Honestly, there weren’t a steady enough need for taking photos at V. C. Lodge, Veronica’s fashion line company, so Toni supplemented her work by working on the website for the company. She hadn’t been proficient in any website making skills until she started doing it to become full time working at the company, when she realized that working two to three different jobs was hell.

So she usually had pretty full days, which was good—she liked it. She liked working the steady nine to five in an office building, never leaving a day with her pockets empty. She supposed she liked it because it was so starkly different from how she was brought up, and the lifestyle her family had always lived. She’d been able to live alone when she started working part time for Veronica’s up and coming brand, though she had been working two additional jobs as well. Now that she worked full time, she made enough to live in her own apartment, a pretty nice one compared to some shoebox apartments that were available all around New York City.

Her shoot went well—the models were all stunning as per usual and beyond talented at somehow posing perfectly in the clothing they wore. That was something Toni was sure she’d never understand. She could be the photographer with ease, but on the other side of the camera, Toni was never comfortable.

After her shoot, she sent the photos to Veronica to approve, and then headed to her cubicle in the web department of the office. V. C. Lodge took up a whole level of a downtown office building, and Veronica swore that once she was able to expand the brand beyond clothing, it would take over the rest of the building level by level. She got that kind of drive from her business tycoon father, but his goals almost always involved some kind of sketchy underhand stuff.

Toni settled down at her desk and opened her inbox, looking at all of the things she had to do that day. Taking in a breath, she started working.

* * *

Cheryl woke up on Tuesday feeling recharged.

On performance weeks, there were no classes, just pre-show rehearsals, so she had nowhere to be until the afternoon. It put a bit of a damper in her paycheck, since her pay for being part of the Pixies was next to nothing, and most of her paycheck came from classes. Thankfully, the winter season of classes would begin next week, so she would be right back to making money.

So she slept in Tuesday, contrary to the lie she’d told Timothy—that she had to be up early in the morning. He didn’t need to know, she was already lucky that he thought she was basically booked all week. It was actually quite the opposite—other than rehearsal and performance, she basically had nothing to do all week.

As she made herself a late breakfast, she got a text from her cousin—third cousin, to be precise—Betty.

**Cousin Betty – Hey, Polly and I wanna go to your show on Friday! Any chance you can get us a discount? :)**

**Cheryl – That’s not really how it works, the whole point of the show is to fund the next season, and since like half of the people who come are relatives or friends, if we gave family discounts it would really not help.**

**Cousin Betty – Laaame, okay. Well, we’ll be there on Friday! Will we be able to see you after?**

**Cheryl – Of course, dear cousin**

**Cousin Betty – Okay, cool. How was the first show?**

**Cheryl – It was pretty good, a really good turnout.**

**Cousin Betty – I’m glad!**

Cheryl didn’t reply after that—she and Betty weren’t exactly close friends, but sometimes, she was the best friend that Cheryl did have. Aside from her fellow Pixies, there weren’t many people that Cheryl saw regularly. She wasn’t one for friends. If her dating life was any indication, close relationships were just not for her.

It was a few hours later, after Cheryl had finished redoing her nails and doing her makeup, that Cheryl got another text, this time from Timothy.

**Timothy – Hey Cheryl! Break a leg tonight! ;D Not really of course, but you know what I meant. Good luck! If you want me to bring over food or anything afterward let me know :)**

He was sweet, she knew, but he was also wasn’t attentive or understanding. He was too enthusiastic to gain opportunities that would result in sex—which it seemed he thought was every time they ever saw each other in person—and just not a great guy in that aspect. Not to mention, Cheryl was practically not attracted to him anymore.

So, she decided that rather than wait a few days, she should probably just tell him how it was now.

**Cheryl – Timothy, you are very sweet. However, I really don’t think this thing between us is going anywhere, and I am not really interested in pursuing this relationship. I hope that you find what you are looking for with a girl who is better suited for you. Have a good day.**

It was practically identical to the last text she sent to another guy a few months ago. She’d probably be sending a similar text in a few months. She wasn’t the kind of girl who could build serious relationships—most of her family could vouch for that much.

**Timothy – Wait, what? I felt like things were going good between us. I don’t understand what changed.**

**Cheryl – I told you, I don’t see this going anywhere.**

**Timothy – That’s a bullshit answer, Cheryl.**

**Cheryl – If you want me to be frank, I shall. I am not very attracted to you, sex with you isn’t satisfying for me, and you are really just not my type. I have no interest in further spending time with you.**

And  _ that _ was why Cheryl could never let guys down easy. She couldn’t stand them asking questions about what went wrong, especially considering she’d only been seeing Timothy for a few weeks and nothing between them had ever been official. He should be able to accept that she didn’t see it going anywhere. And when she got frustrated by the questions, she had a really hard time not being blunt.

Thankfully, though, her text was enough to stop him from replying, and Cheryl continued on with her day.

* * *

After a long day of work on Tuesday, Toni arrived home ready to relax. She popped a TV dinner into the microwave and began looking through Netflix for anything interesting to watch. She watched a couple of episodes of a show that looked good, while eating her dinner and then out of a tub of ice cream she kept for her nights in, and then decided that it was a good time to get ready for bed.

She showered quickly and readied herself for bed, and then crawled into her sheets and blankets, sighing happily. Just as she was settling there, though, she remembered her dream from the night before. She had done a pretty good job of not allowing her thoughts to linger on the mystery redhead all day, but on occasion, the beautiful woman had slipped into her thoughts anyway. And now, Toni barely had the energy to actively push the thoughts away.

So she drifted asleep with a mental video of the redhead dancing as she had on Monday.

It was a couple of hours later that Toni jolted awake, noticing a burning feeling between her thighs. She furrowed her eyebrows, reaching her hand down between her legs, and realized that she was wet. Blinking, she tried to recall her dream, and it slowly came back to her. Another sex dream about the mystery redhead. She knew that she shouldn’t be having them, but she really couldn’t stop herself from dreaming, could she?

Two nights in a row, though, she felt like was excessive, especially considering that she’d only seen this girl once, and would probably never see her again.

She considered getting up and going to clean herself up in the bathroom, before going back to sleep, but then a thought crossed her might.  _ Maybe _ , if she dealt with this issue now, it would cease to exist.

That was the solution she decided upon as she pressed her fingers in between her thighs onto her clit, moaning instantly. Her body woke before her brain even had, so it was easy to work herself up. As her right hand rubbed her clit and teased herself, her left hand came up to squeeze her breasts. Closing her eyes, she imagined that the redhead was on top of her, doing this to her. Her dreams made it easy to summon the image to her head, and she very quickly got close. Moaning, she slipped her fingers inside herself and began driving herself to climax. Her breathing was heavy as she imagined pale fingers inside her, and red hair splaying across her darker skin. With one last loud moan, Toni came. She relaxed into her damp sheets, breathing heavily, and felt exhaustion coming over her.

She didn’t even get a chance to get up and clean herself up before she passed out.

* * *

The next day at work, Toni felt considerably more relaxed than usual. The great thing about middle-of-the-week masturbating, she supposed. She also had an easier time keeping her mind on her work and off of a certain mystery woman who had apparently been plaguing her subconscious.

Veronica came over to her desk at the start of lunch break, and dropped a piece of paper in front of her dramatically. “Behold! Your plans for next Monday!”

Toni looked down at the paper, and it was some sort of confirmation email that Veronica had apparently decided to print rather than email. “What is it for? Why couldn’t you just forward me the email?”

“Because I wanted to come down in person to let you know that you will be accompanying me to a dance class next Monday evening.”

Toni’s jaw dropped. “What? No! I thought you said you weren’t seriously considering dancing again. Don’t you have enough to do running a whole ass company?”

“Well, apparently not, because I’ve noticed since Reggie and I broke up that I’ve been spending a shit ton of time doing  _ nothing _ where I used to be spending time with him. And after seeing that performance on Monday, I got to thinking, I need a  _ hobby _ . Something to occupy extra time, and also that’s fun and that I like. And I’ve always loved dancing,” Veronica explained. “And I know you love it too, come on Toni!”

“It’s not that I don’t like dancing,” Toni said, “but… I don’t know. I haven’t since high school, and I wasn’t even that good in high school. Plus, that sounds like a lot of exercise that I don’t need in my life. Why can’t your new hobby be like… yoga or something?”

“I’ve  _ tried _ yoga, remember? The last time I did it, I couldn’t get the flow down because you’re supposed to be able to like, quiet your brain or whatever, and that is now how my brain works,” Veronica stated.

“I’m pretty sure that’s the point of the practice… you like, learn that shit or whatever.”

“Okay, Miss Yoga Expert. Please, will you just come to that first class with me? They do first class free so you can decide if you like it and the instructor and everything. And then, if you don’t, you can drop it, okay?” Veronica gave Toni a wide smile, and the pink haired girl let out a breath.

“Okay, fine. The one class. But you can’t try to pressure me into staying in it if I don’t like it, okay?”

“Deal!” Veronica exclaimed happily. She turned around and headed out of the area, and Toni just sighed, relaxing into her chair and shaking her head. What was she getting herself into?

* * *

Cheryl’s plan for Friday had originally been to spend it much the same as she had the previous days of the week, but since Betty and Polly were going to see the show that night, they had asked if Cheryl would be free to get lunch with them too. They knew that she would be busy in the late afternoon and evening before the show, but were hoping to see her for more than just the small amount of time after the show. The two of them still lived in their hometown, a little ways outside of New York City, and neither of them ventured fully into the city very often.

So Cheryl had agreed, and met her cousins out at her favorite cheap lunch spot. She knew they would offer to pay for her, and of course she would refuse, and so she liked to pick a cheap place.

“So, how has the week been?” Polly asked, as enthusiastic as ever, as they sat down at a table after placing their orders at the counter. “Exciting?”

“Yes, it’s been great,” Cheryl answered. “As much as I love performance week, I am a bit ready to return to the usual routine.”

“I get that,” Betty said. “I get like that when there’s suddenly an uproar in town, and there’s so much to report on. I love it at first, but then I get overwhelmed and ready for a break.” Betty worked with her mom at the Riverdale news station, and Polly also worked in town as a teacher. That was about as interesting as the range of jobs got in Riverdale, and that was one of the reasons that Cheryl had left.

“Yeah, I don’t mind performing of course, but I miss the rest of my day. My days have been pretty boring besides performing this week.”

“Weren’t you seeing someone?” Betty asked. “Some guy who’s name started with T… or something?”

“Timothy,” Cheryl answered. “I broke things off between us earlier this week. He was starting to get kind of committed, and he really was not worth the commitment.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Betty apologized.

“No need to apologize, dear cousin,” Cheryl answered, straightening up.

“You know, Cheryl, your mother speaks frequently about how she hopes that you’ll finally settle down,” Polly piped up cheerfully. Her happiness at the topic was not mutual, and Cheryl rolled her eyes quite obviously.

“My mother has no respect for me or my life, and therefore, her opinion means nothing to me,” Cheryl stated plainly.

“She loves you, Cheryl,” Polly insisted. “Trust me, I see her a lot—she’s really taken me under her wing lately and been a really great aunt.”

Cheryl made eye contact with Betty, and could tell that the younger of her two cousins was on her side here. “Well, Polly, I’m very glad that she has been there for you. However, she has not for me, and therefore, I would very much like it if we could avoid talking about her.”

She wanted to say words more biting than those, but Polly was rather… well, delicate, and Cheryl didn’t want to deal with a scolding from Betty later. “Alright, okay,” Polly conceded. A waiter was suddenly bringing them their food, and the topic died off naturally as they began to eat and talk about other aspects of life.

Cheryl excused herself earlier than she needed to, because she had a couple hours, still, before she needed to be at rehearsal, but she needed some time to reset after having to think about her mother. So she arrived back home with some time to kill.

Upon returning home, she quickly came to the realization that nothing she had available to her at her apartment would successfully take her mind off of her mother. So she grabbed her dance bag and left for the studio.

She was the first of the dancers there, so she changed into her performance leotard, tights and shorts, and then claimed one of the studio rooms. Dropping her bag by the door, she went to go set up the speakers to play the song she needed, and then she started practicing.

She ran that night’s dance about six times in a row before she finally felt like her mother was no longer plaguing her thoughts. She felt more at ease, so as she finished her sixth run through, she turned off the music. Just as she did, someone opened the door to the room, drawing Cheryl’s attention.

It was Hannah, the newest Pixie. “Hey, Cheryl. I saw that you were in here, but I didn’t want to interrupt you while you were practicing.”

“Hannah,” Cheryl returned in greeting, “I just finished.”

“Yeah,” Hannah said with a nod, pushing some of her dull blonde hair behind her ear, “why’d you come in so early?”

“I was bored,” Cheryl lied. She wasn’t about to share anything more personal than that.

“Don’t you get tired? I feel like you never get tired,” Hannah said with a laugh.

Cheryl tried to give the girl a smile. “Not usually when it comes to dancing.”

“You’re an amazing dancer,” Hannah told her. “I hope to be able to perfect dances the way that you do.”

Cheryl smirked a little at the compliment—it was one she received often from her students and fellow dancers. “Thank you,” she said curtly, trying to suppress her smirk. Clearing her throat, she added, “You’re a good dancer too, that’s why you’re a Pixie.”

“I know, but it’s different,” Hannah insisted. “You could dance from morning to night, over and over, and hardly ever mess up.”

Cheryl smiled again, trying to make it a genuine smile, and went over to her bag. “Did you want the room?”

“Well, are you done? I was going to say if you want to, we should practice together.” Cheryl knit her eyebrows together at hearing that. “You’re kind of quiet in practice, so I don’t know if you’re just a loner, or what… so if you don’t want to that’s fine.”

“We can,” Cheryl decided. She moved back over to the speakers. “You ready now?”

Hannah nodded, quickly running over to her start position. Cheryl started the music and hurried to her start position as well, and they began dancing.

It was weird practicing with one person, rather than with her whole group or alone. She wasn’t close friends with any of the Pixies, because Hannah was right, she kept to herself most of the time. So usually, she didn’t see them outside of their usual practice times or in passing at work.

They ran through the dance a couple of times before stopping, because Cheryl knew that Hannah was going to get too tired if they practiced too much before official rehearsal even started. “So, Hannah, why were you here early?” Cheryl asked the blonde, who was seated on the floor, leaning against the wall as Cheryl turned off the repeating music.

Hannah sighed. “My boyfriend and I were fighting. I needed to get my mind off of it.”

“Oh. That’s unfortunate.”

“It’s okay. I think it’s going to end between us,” she admitted sadly. “Which is… hard. We’ve been together for almost a year and a half—since I graduated college. So it’s going to be really hard to adjust to real life alone. But… I think it’s gotta happen. He’s not happy, and I’m not really either… You know?”

Cheryl nodded, even though she didn’t know. She’d never been in a serious relationship. In fact, she’d rarely even had strong, genuine feelings for someone. Her mother liked to say it was because she was an emotional anorexic—a term that the older woman was proud to have coined. Cheryl had no other explanation, so she supposed that her mother must be right.

Shaking that thought away was easier now that she had been doing so much dancing and since someone else was in the room. She focused her attention back on Hannah to avoid the thoughts in her head. “I’ve just… been trying to decide if  _ I _ should be the one to end it. What if he doesn’t actually want to break up? What do you think?”

“I have no idea,” Cheryl admitted. “Relationships aren’t really my thing.”

“Oh, okay,” Hannah acknowledged, nodding. “Well. I’ll figure it out. I’m glad to have this place to escape too, though. It’s good for that.”

“It is,” Cheryl agreed. She knew all too well the feeling of dancing to escape emotional pain.

A silence came over them, and she could tell that Hannah was trying to figure out what else to say, but then the door opened, and their director, Quince, came in. “Oh, Hannah, Cheryl! Great, you’re here! The other ladies just came in, let’s move it on over to the other room and run the dance a few times, yeah?”

Cheryl and Hannah both nodded, getting up and grabbing their things before following him over to the other room.

Honestly, the interaction with Hannah had been the most genuine conversation she’d had with any of the Pixies in a while, and she wondered if that was a good thing or a bad thing. She didn’t think on it much, though, because they were about to start practice. As soon as the music began, she was back to her usual self, her movements precise and her thoughts focused only on the moves. Dancing could trump all other feelings, good and bad, and that’s what Cheryl loved about it.

* * *

The last two nights of the show went just as well as the rest of the week, and the staff surprised all of the dance groups with a bouquet of flowers at the end of Saturday’s performance. It was that feeling of success and joy that filled Cheryl up that made performance week so exciting. That feeling that everything she did for herself here at DHS was also impacting other people. That it, and she, was worth something. That feeling, she relished in.

She went to the after party that the dancers routinely had at the end of a performance week. Like usual, she mostly kept to herself throughout it, drinking and sitting in on the Pixies’ conversations. Hannah actually tried to draw her out some, and it made her feel included, and she actually laughed a few times—something she knew her fellow dancers didn’t see very often.

And by the time she got home to her apartment, early Sunday morning, she collapsed into her bed, feeling grateful for the week she’d had, but also excited to return to normalcy—how she felt at the end of every performance week. The return of a routine would energize her, since she wouldn’t be having empty days ending with busy nights. The routine would give her the time to teach and dance with the Pixies—busy days and nights. And although the high of performing was somewhat addicting, she was ready for the normalcy of her usual life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I told you Cheryl's relationship with a dude wouldn't last long! Yay!  
> Bet you guys can't guess who's going to be teaching Toni and Veronica's dance class... XD  
> Fun fact: there's this old Brittana story called "I'll Teach You To Dance" where Brittana meets at a dance class. This story is literally nothing like that, but while writing this I remembered that and how much I loved that story. So, if you ever wanna read some good Brittana fanfic on FanFiction, would def recommend that one.  
> Thank you all so much for taking time to read this update! I hope you really enjoyed and that you will leave any feedback in the comments! I hope you all have a great week, and I'll see you on Wednesday!! xx


	3. The First Class

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toni and Veronica go to their first dance class, and Toni meets the dance instructor of her dreams. Then, Toni's other friends get to hear all about said dance instructor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, good evening everyone! Sorry this is going up so late in the day! Today was a DAY. I'll ramble a little in the post note, but for now, I won't hold you up too much.  
> Thank you all for your sweet comments so far! I've been loving all of them! I do my best to respond to all of them in between chapters!  
> Remember, if you want to see tweets about when this story is updated, or if you just want to hear about my life, you can follow me on Twitter @BrittzandTana :D I hope you all enjoy the chapter, thank you in advance for being here <3 xx

Toni wiggled uncomfortably in her yoga pants. They still fit her, even though she hadn’t worn them in years, because she’d been her petite size since high school. However, Toni wasn’t used to exercise clothes, including yoga pants, anymore. She much preferred shorts and fishnets—when it was hot out—or jeans or regular pants. Leggings and yoga pants were a commonplace to most women these days, but Toni had never been interested in wearing them out in public.

Yet here she was, standing outside the New York Dance Hall and Studio, waiting for Veronica. It was nearing seven o’clock on Monday evening, and their class was going to start very soon. Huffing in frustration, she pulled her phone out of her bag again to text Veronica.

**Toni – GIRL. Where are you? You wanted to do this stupid thing, and now you’re going to make us both late????**

Just as she sent the message, she heard fast feet hitting concrete, and she turned to look in the direction of the sound. Veronica was practically running toward her. “Sorry! Cabbie guy dropped me off around the block and because I wasn’t paying any attention I got out and didn’t realize until he freaking sped off!”

“Okay, whatever, hurry up, we’re going to be late,” Toni said in annoyance. Veronica just grinned at her, grabbing Toni’s arm as she jogged past her, pulling the smaller girl into the building. “What class did you even sign us up for?”

“I think like, hip hop and modern dance?” Veronica answered. “I don’t remember what it was called.”

They hurried past the entrance to the performance hall and over to the teaching studios, where Veronica fumbled with her phone to figure out where they were supposed to be. Finally, though, they ended up at a dance studio that was full, with some classic hip-hop dance music playing, and a bunch of girls—and a few guys—stretching.

And the girl at the front of the room, closest to the mirror, was  _ her _ .

The redhead, the mystery girl from the performance Toni had gone to with Veronica a week ago. The beautiful Pixie who Toni had had two sex dreams about before having to  _ masturbate _ thinking about her just to get her out of her head. “Oh my god,” Toni whispered, hoping it didn’t sound like a moan.

“What’s wrong with you?” Veronica demanded. “Come on.”

Veronica tugged Toni into the room, and they quickly dropped their things against the wall and lined up at the back of the room. Next to them was one of the guys, who was wearing essentially a full body leotard. “Don’t worry,” he whispered to them, “we haven’t started yet.”

“Okay good,” Veronica breathed out, relieved.

“What’s your name?” the guy asked.

“Veronica,” Veronica replied, “and this is Toni.”

“Nice to meet you guys, I’m Kevin,” the guy—Kevin—replied. “First time in a class here?”

“That obvious?” Veronica asked. Toni just rolled her eyes.

“Of course it’s obvious, we didn’t even know where we were going and we’re basically late,” Toni said.

Just as she finished, the music stop, and everyone faced forward, where the redhead was standing in front of the mirror, her hands on her hips and her stance wide. Her lips were painted a bold red, and her fiery hair was long and cascading around her. She was wearing black, skin-tight leggings and a red tank top that was almost as tight as the leggings.

“Good evening, everyone,” she spoke, and Toni could feel herself getting warmer. Her voice was somehow just as hot as her body, and that “I take no nonsense” expression that she was wearing on her beautiful face was definitely doing it for the pink haired girl. “My name is Cheryl Blossom, and I am the instructor for this Beginner to Intermediate Modern Dance and Hip Hop class.”

“I was close,” Veronica whispered to Toni, who hardly paid any attention her friend. She was too busy ogling at the redhead— _ Cheryl _ , she knew her name now—and trying not to make it seem too obvious.

“You’re one of the Pixies!” Kevin called out, and Cheryl’s lips stretched into a smile of pride.

“Yes, I am,” she confirmed. “I’ve been a member of the Pixies for two years, and I’ve been taking and teaching classes here at DHS for about four years. I specialize in modern dance and hip hop, obviously, but I do have some classical training as well. Any questions about me?”

_ What’s your phone number? Are you into girls? Any chance you want to help me live out a dream I had last week? _ Toni swallowed thickly.

“Great! Well, as you all undoubtedly know, today is the first day of our winter session here at DHS. About half of you I recognize, welcome back. The other half, welcome. I know that many of you are taking advantage of our first class free policy. In that case, please try to be as involved as possible. If you are uncomfortable with anything we do today, you will probably not be the best fit for this class.”

Cheryl moved over to the speakers as she continued to speak.

“If you do choose to remain in this class, we will meet every week, this time on Mondays, for the next three weeks following this week. We will not have class Thanksgiving week. Then, for the following five weeks after the week of Thanksgiving, we will meet twice a week, this time on Mondays and a to be determined time on Saturdays. After the total ten weeks, we will have our Winter Performance week during the first week of January. If you desire additional practice, we have open practice all day on Fridays. If this schedule does not work for you, this class will probably not work for you. However, if you are unsure of your schedule at this time, you have the opportunity to officially cancel your participation in this class anytime in the first half of it. After that, we ask that you please only withdraw in the case of an emergency.”

She turned on some music, and Toni had to remember that they were about to actually do something, and she needed to stop just staring at her instructor. The only reason she’d even absorbed anything the woman had said was because her voice was so attractive.

The next hour and a half—the length of the class—was spent stretching, practicing a few rudimentary dance moves, and practicing moving one’s body in the correct way to dance. Toni actually found that she picked it all back up pretty quickly, despite the fact that it had been a good five years since she’d done any drill team dancing. Veronica didn’t have any issues either, and to be honest, it looked like she hadn’t ever stopped dancing. Kevin also seemed to be a seasoned dancer, and she assumed that this was  _ not _ his first time dancing in the last five years.

But Cheryl,  _ damn _ , the way that girl’s body moved. Toni couldn’t hardly believe that she had just seen the angelic redhead on stage a week ago, and now she was standing practically right in front of her. Toni relished in how close up she could see the woman move, but still tried her bed to participate well.

When class ended, and they finished their final stretching, Cheryl announced, “Thank you all for joining me. Again, this class is just an intro to what we will be doing. If this was your free class, please either submit your official payment online before next class, or come up to me now and I can process that for you now.”

Veronica immediately turned to Toni. “It’s fun, right?” Veronica asked excitedly.

Toni tried to ignore the instructor as she faced Veronica. “Yes, but… really, ten weeks if a big commitment, and we have to like,  _ perform _ at the end of it… I don’t know, V.”

“You guys have  _ got to _ do it,” Kevin interrupted. “I’ve taken classes from other instructors here, and it’s been a great experience. And the classes aren’t taken  _ too _ seriously. I mean, yes you need to go to all of the practices and stuff, but if you’re not perfect, it’s fine. It’s not like the DHS groups, it’s just a class.”

“See, Toni! It’s not  _ that _ big of a commitment,” Veronica insisted. “Come on, please?” Toni clenched her teeth, ready to tell her friend no, but then her gaze jumped over to Cheryl, who was speaking with someone else. Finally, she looked back at her friend and let out a sigh, and Veronica knew that she’d won. “Yes!”

“I should get paid for this. It should be part of my job as your employee to accompany you to dance classes,” Toni muttered.

“So you guys are staying?” Kevin asked excitedly.

“Yes we are!” Veronica exclaimed. “Come on, Toni, let’s go pay.”

They went up to Cheryl after grabbing their bags. She was finishing up her conversation with another person in the class, and as soon as she walked off, the redhead turned her dark gaze to Veronica and Toni. “Hey,” Veronica said excitedly, “so if we pay now, does it have to be cash?”

“No, I have a card reader,” Cheryl answered, and went over to her dance bag to grab said card reader.

“So,” Toni heard herself say, more than felt it, “do we have to pay it all up front, or can we pay every week?”

“Either way works,” Cheryl answered.

Veronica was handing the redhead her card, “I’m going to just pay mine upfront.”

“I’ll just pay next week’s,” Toni said, and her friend looked at her pointedly. “What? I don’t have a shit ton of cash laying around like you do!”

“Whatever.” Veronica sniffed, feigning offense. “You’re just doing that so you can quit as soon as you know I’m too committed to quit with you.”

“I didn’t say that!” Toni exclaimed.

Cheryl had finished charging Veronica’s card, and handed it back to her. “Cash or card?” she asked Toni, and when Toni’s eyes met the redhead’s dark ones, she felt her breath catch in her throat.

“Oh,” is all she managed to say, and then she fumbled with her bag to grab her card out of it. “Card, sorry.”

Veronica was now looking at the pink haired girl funny, and Toni knew that she’d been caught. “For the record,” Cheryl started saying all of the sudden, “if you did pay up front, and decided to cancel before halfway through, you get the correct portion of money refunded back to you. It’s only if you cancel more than halfway through that you’d lose any of it.”

“Well, that’s not why I’m not paying all up front,” Toni answered quickly.

Cheryl just shook her head in amusement, presumably at Toni and Veronica’s back and forth from before, and finished charging Toni’s card. Then she handed it back to her. “Well, I will see you both next week.”

“Yes you will!” Veronica answered brightly. “Come on, T, let’s go get burritos.”

As soon as they left the room, though, Veronica was grinning at Toni. “Okay, don’t lie—the only reason you agreed to keep coming to this is because you think Cheryl is hot.”

“No!” Toni denied. “I’m being a good friend and supporting you in your post-break-up hobby!”

“Don’t lie, bitch!”

Toni sighed. “Okay, maybe that’s  _ part  _ of the reason.” Veronica gasped, feigning shock and then laughing as they continued to walk to the exit of the building. “What? Can you blame me? Did you  _ see _ her?”

“How on Earth are you so horny?” Veronica asked with a laugh. Toni felt her face flush, and her friend laughed at her more. “Come on, burritos are my treat.”

* * *

Cheryl ended her first day back to teaching with a hot bath. The day had been kind of long—she had a morning Pixies practice, and taught two classes, on Monday, one of the classes being a teens class. Those were the worst, honestly, because half of the teenagers cared, and the other half were there to please their parents in some way, shape or form. But two classes in a day wasn’t too bad. The teen class was twice a week, so also on Wednesday, which made Wednesday her lightest day, with just that class and Pixies practice. Tuesdays and Thursdays, she co-taught two higher level classes that met twice a week, and Fridays were open practice days. Anyone from any classes could come in to practice and get help from their instructor.

Fridays and Saturdays would both also consist of Pixies practice, so yes, Cheryl’s weeks were definitely going to get busy, and she was excited for it.

* * *

The week passed pretty normally after Monday’s dance class, and Toni more or less forgot that it was even a thing. She did her work during the day, and in the evening she either took a night in, hung out with Veronica, or met up with Fangs and Sweet Pea—her other two best friends.

Friday night found her at their shared apartment, where she and Sweet Pea were playing a first person shooter game, and Fangs was watching and keeping the conversation going. She liked chill nights like these, and she was glad that working every day earned her weekends so that she could have nights like these. She remembered working as a bartender while she was in  _ high school _ , working almost all weekend nights to basically support herself. How she’d even managed to get and keep a job bartending when under eighteen years old was a sketchy situation on its own, but the working all night on Fridays and Saturdays had been hell.

“So, what’s new with you Toni?” Fangs questioned, after he finished rambling about his latest complaint about customers. “Not much?”

“Yeah, no much,” Toni answered, most of her focus on the game as she set up to head shot Sweet Pea’s character. “Just…” Her words drifted off right as she shot, and then Sweet Pea’s character dropped dead.

“What the fuck! Where did you even come from, bitch?” Sweet Pea demanded, while Toni just snickered and moved on to find other members of his team.

“Anyway, you were saying, Toni?”

“Just, Ronnie and I joined a dance class,” Toni finished.

Sweet Pea gave her a sideways glance. “A dance class, huh? Didn’t know you wanted to do that.”

“I didn’t. Veronica’s still torn up about Reggie, and she thinks it’ll be a good distraction. And I’m doing it with her because I’m a good friend.”

Sweet Pea snickered. “A good friend huh? What’s the real reason?”

“Toni’s a good friend,” Fangs defended her, and Toni grinned wickedly.

“Thanks, Fangs, but he’s right. There’s an ulterior motive,” she admitted. “The instructor—she’s  _ so _ hot. I saw her perform when I went to that show last week with Ronnie. She was  _ so _ hot, and she’s the instructor for the class Veronica wanted to try.”

“Wow,” Sweet Pea stretched out the word, and Toni knew he would be slow clapping if his hands weren’t occupied by holding his controller. “Classic Toni.”

“What’s her name?” Fangs asked.

“Cheryl.”

Fangs raised his eyebrows. “Isn’t that like, an old white lady name?”

“I don’t fucking know, but she’s definitely no old white lady,” Toni assured him. “White? Yes. Old? No fucking way. She can’t be much older than us. She’s literally so fucking hot though—I can’t even explain it.”

“You say that like you’ve seen her naked,” Sweet Pea said, laughing.

Toni flushed, thinking about her sex dreams. Thankfully, she hadn’t had anymore, not even seeing Cheryl on Monday. “She performed in a leotard and short shorts—that’s practically naked.”

“Why’d your face get all red, Tiny?” Fangs asked, lifting his eyebrows.

“It didn’t.”

Sweet Pea glanced at Toni quickly. “Yes, it’s red. Give it up, what aren’t you saying?”

“I didn’t see her naked,” Toni promised. “At least, not in real life…”

“You had a sex dream about her already?” Fangs exclaimed.

“I can’t help what my brain does while I’m asleep!”

Sweet Pea was snickering still. “Classic Toni.”

“Oh shut up,” she said, as she proceeded to head shot his character again.

“God fuck!” Sweet Pea exclaimed, a game over pop-up over his side of the screen. On Toni’s side of the screen, there was a pop-up announcing her team’s success.

“Better think twice before teasing me, Sweets,” she said with a smirk.

Her phone vibrated suddenly, and she grabbed it from where it had been sitting next to her.

**Ronnie – Are you still at Sweets and Fangs place?**

**Toni – Yea, why?**

**Ronnie – I’m in the neighborhood, can I join?**

“Veronica wants to know if she can join us,” Toni said to her friends, really only asking since it was their apartment. They were both friends with Veronica, so she didn’t expect them to say no.

“Of course,” both of them said at the same time, and she relayed the response to her friend.

Sweet Pea and Toni started another round as they waited for the other girl, and when there was a knock on the door, Fangs got up to let her in. “Hey, Veronica,” he said, letting her in. “How’re you doing?”

“Pretty good,” she answered. “I had a dinner with a prospective business partner in the area, and afterward I remembered that Toni was here tonight, so I decided to pop by.”

“You’re always welcome,” Fangs reminded her. “Come on in, I’ve just been badgering the two of them while they kill each other over and over again in this game.”

“Correction,” Toni interrupted, “while  _ I _ kill Sweet Pea over and over again.”

“Not anymore!” Sweet Pea exclaimed suddenly, and Toni’s character died. Her jaw dropped, and she glanced at Sweet Pea’s half of the screen to see where he’d shot her from.

“Damn it!” she exclaimed.

“Ha! You just got lucky last round, see?”

“And the round before that, and the round before that…”

Veronica laughed, shaking her head as she sat on the living room’s love seat next to Fangs—Toni and Sweet Pea were on the couch. “If I didn’t know you two well enough, I’d swear you sound like a couple when you squabble like that.”

Toni pretended to gag, and Sweet Pea rolled his eyes. “Sweet Pea doesn’t do that when he dates people,” Fangs informed Veronica, “he’s a sweet heart deep down. Hence the name.”

“Shut up, Fangs,” Sweet Pea snapped at his roommate, who snickered. He set his controller down, and Toni did so as well, realizing that they were taking a break.

“So,” Fangs said, looking back to Veronica, “we just heard from Toni that you’ve both joined a dance class now?”

“Yeah, it seems like it’s going to be a lot of fun. We’ve already made a new sorta-friend there—his name is Kevin.”

“Is he our  _ sorta-friend _ ?” Toni asked, unconvinced.

“He’s nice! And he talked to us during class and everything. It’s more than anyone else in there did. Although, I guess your attention was focused elsewhere the whole time.”

“Oh yeah, we heard about the hot instructor that Toni’s had wet dreams about,” Sweet Pea stated, and Veronica’s jaw dropped as Toni groaned, sinking into her seat.

“Wait, you had  _ wet dreams _ about Cheryl? Like, more than one?”

“Two,” Toni mumbled. “But that was last week, and they stopped, okay?”

“You need to get laid,” Sweet Pea told her, patting her on the back. She shrugged his hand off of her and rolled her eyes.

“Getting laid is going to help me stop being attracted to my dance instructor?”

“You could get laid  _ by _ the dance instructor?”

“There’s no way I’m going to try that,” Toni argued. “Out of respect to Ronnie, who really wants to do this class. I don’t want to fuck that up.” That wasn’t  _ really _ the reason, of course, but more so that Toni didn’t even know how to approach it. Plus, what were the odds that Cheryl was even into girls? She didn’t want to make things awkward for anyone, no matter how hot the redhead was.

“That’s sweet,” Veronica said, “but you should not base who you date on me.”

“What if—”

“If you say ‘what if I was dating Reggie?’, I will get violent,” Veronica interrupted, and Toni snapped her jaw shut.

Sweet Pea coughed awkwardly. “Isn’t he supposed to be like, he who shall not be named?”

“No, I’m fine,” Veronica insisted. “For about a week, it was he who shall not be named. But I’ve been better since last week. I’ve been getting my mind off of him easier.”

“Has he tried to contact you at all?” Sweet Pea wondered.

“No, thank god.”

“Well, good. If he does, just let me know, and I’ll make sure he stops.”

Toni and Fangs glanced at each other, and she could tell that he also felt like they had been forgotten about.

“Well,” Fangs said, after a moment of silence, “what about a Friday night movie?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it was mostly Toni POV in this one, but in the future, I try to keep it pretty 50/50. Bet you can't guess what other ships are going to make an appearance in this story... jk, I'm sure you're all smart enough to figure it out haha. Let me know in the comments how you liked the chapter, and what kind of things you think you'll be seeing in upcoming chapters!  
> Story time, if any of you are interested! Today, I had a mostly good but busy morning, and then I had a 3 hour period to chill and write fanfic and watch YouTube before I was going to enter major STUDY MODE. I have my last final of the semester tomorrow evening. So, I took a shower and then settled in front of the couch with my laptop, ready to chill. THEN, a super loud knock on my door. It's housing maintenance. They want to change out the air filters and smoke alarm batteries-just a routine thing. Okay, I let them in, they say they'll be done in 15 minutes. One of them goes into my bathroom to change the filter in there. Then, another one goes in there. Then, one walks out, past me, and out my front door, and I hear, "The toilet? What happened?" And I'm like???? YES tell me too WHAT HAPPENED TO MY TOILET? Then, I'm trying to lowkey figure out what's going on, I can't, so I end up asking a guy as they're BRINGING IN A NEW TOILET TANK, and he's like "oh there was an accident.." and then this other guy says "oh, it's getting old, we want to replace it so it doesn't start leaking." I'm like, WHAT'S THE TRUTH BRO? Then, enter another maintenance guy, this time, CARRYING A WHOLE NEW TOILET. So, they tell me they're replacing the whole toilet. At this point, I have 1 hour left before I need to go to work, but I have to pee so bad. So, I packed up my shit and went to work an hour early just to go to the bathroom. AND THEN, they call me an hour and a half later to tell me that they CAN'T FINISH FIXING MY TOILET UNTIL TOMORROW.  
> So basically, some maintenance bros came in and f'd up my toilet and now I have a new toilet sitting freely in my bathroom, which also smells terrible rn btw.  
> Thank god I can spend tonight at my girlfriend's apartment, geeeeez.  
> IF YOU MADE IT THIS FAR, I hope you enjoyed this story time lol. Thank you all SO much for taking the time out of your day to read this chapter, and I sincerely hope that you liked it! The next chapter goes up on Friday, and I will be much happier that day because I will be done with finals and will have a working toilet! Thank GOODNESS! Have a lovely night/day everyone!


	4. The Inquiry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toni gathers the courage to ask Cheryl for her number, and things go... interestingly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey lovelies! I know, I know. It's no longer Friday, in fact, it's Saturday literally everywhere. I have absolutely no excuse other than that I'm getting back into having a schedule, and this update schedule is more frequent than any schedule I've had since 2016 lol. So, I apologize for the late update, but I do think that you guys are going to enjoy this one!  
> I've greatly appreciated all of your comments, thank you so very much for all of them <3 Make sure to go and follow me on Twitter as well, for tweets about when I update as well as just tweets about my life, if you'r interested haha. @BrittzandTana !! xx  
> Enjoy the new chapter!

“So you’re telling me I don’t get free burritos every Monday for going to this thing with you?” Toni asked sadly.

“First of all, I already know the real reason you’re even coming with me still, so  _ no _ . Also, even if I wanted to today, I can’t. I told you, I have a business call  _ at _ eight thirty. I’m going to be literally sprinting out here so I can get to somewhere quiet and take it,” Veronica reexplained to the pink haired girl.

“Why do you have a business call at eight thirty at night?” They were walking up to DHS from the cab they’d split, this time about ten minutes early. Toni was wearing a big fluffy coat over her yoga pants and tank top, since it was the beginning of November. She would much rather be wearing jeans than the yoga pants, but of course, she needed to be able to  _ dance _ in her clothes. Veronica had suggested that she just bring a change of clothes, and honestly, Toni hadn’t thought of that. She’d probably be doing that from now on.

“Because,” Veronica said, speaking of the business call still, “he’s in Seoul, and it’s the only time he’s free and not traveling at a time that I’m actually awake.”

“You have a business call with a guy in Korea?”

“It’s another designer,” Veronica explained. “I’m trying to do a show with him or something. I think it would be a good way to get good more people looking at V. C. Lodge, you know?”

“I guess that makes sense.”

“Trust me, Toni, I’m the one with the business degree.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know.” Toni rolled her eyes as they entered the DHS building and started for their dance room. They actually knew where it was this time, and they weren’t the last people to arrive.

“Hey you two!” Kevin exclaimed, waving them over to him once he noticed them.

“Hey, Kevin,” Veronica greeted him. “How’re you?”

“Doing good,” Kevin answered. “You guys?”

“I’m good.”

Toni didn’t answer, because she hadn’t realized that Kevin was talking to her, because her gaze had immediately hopped over to the redhead, who was leaning against the mirror, scrolling through her phone, which was hooked up to the speakers today.

“Toni,” Veronica said, nudging her and drawing her attention. “Kevin asked how you’re doing.”

“Oh, I’m okay,” she answered, glancing back at Cheryl.

“She has a big crush on our Pixie instructor,” Veronica stage whispered to Kevin, and Toni glared at her.

“Shut up, no I don’t,” Toni growled. Obviously, she wasn’t fooling Veronica, but she was hoping that everyone in the room wouldn’t find out—namely  _ Cheryl _ .

Kevin just laughed. “Well, that’s probably a pretty hopeless crush. My instructor in the Spring—the last time I was in a class—she was on the Pixies with Cheryl. Apparently, Cheryl really keeps to herself. She’s been on the Pixies for  _ two years _ , and still is like, not even friends with them. Probably best to not try and pursue a personal relationship with her—I doubt it would go anywhere.”

Toni furrowed her eyebrows, glancing back at Cheryl again, looking at her beautiful curves, her slightly pouted red lips, and her knit brow. She was looking for something on her phone, that much was obvious, but Toni suddenly wanted to know everything happening in her head.

“Oh god,” Veronica said, “Kevin, you shouldn’t have said that. She’s going to take it as a challenge now.”

“Not a  _ challenge _ ,” Toni argued. “Just… I’m maybe a little more interested to talk to her now…”

Kevin smirked. “Well, good luck with that.”

The conversation moved away from Toni’s attraction to their instructor, and then at seven, Cheryl started playing some warm up music, silencing everyone. “Welcome back everyone, today we start learning our dance for this season. But first, let’s warm up.”

* * *

At the end of class, Cheryl dismissed everyone and reminded them that if they needed to submit a payment in person they were welcome to come up and do so now. As she’d been speaking, she’d noticed one of the girls she hadn’t ever seen until the previous week—Veronica, she thought was her name—grab her things and hurry out of the room. Surprisingly, though, her friend didn’t follow suit.

In fact, after a minute of everyone grabbing their stuff and chatting, Veronica’s friend appeared next to her. “Hey,” she said, drawing Cheryl’s gaze up from her bag, where she’d been bent over, “could I possibly make my next class payment?”

“Yes,” Cheryl replied. She grabbed her company Square reader, remembering that this girl had used her card before. Sure enough, the girl handed her card to Cheryl, who began to process the correct payment.

“By the way,” the girl continued, and Cheryl looked up at her curiously, “my name is Toni. I don’t think I mentioned that last week.”

“Nice to meet you, Toni,” Cheryl returned routinely, looking back down at what she was doing. She thought she saw Toni fidgeting out of the corner of her eye as she waited for the payment to process. When it did finish, Cheryl handed back the girl’s card, half expecting her to then disappear as fast as her friend did by the way that she’d been shifting her weight and fiddling with her tank top.

But Toni took her card back, slipped it into her wallet, and didn’t move.

“Was there something else?” Cheryl wondered, starting to feel a little frustrated. At least pretty much everyone else had left the room now, no one else had needed to make a payment apparently. Most of them were probably making them online—which she honestly hoped Toni would start doing too.

“Oh, yeah, well… I hope this isn’t wildly inappropriate to ask, but…” Toni trailed off for a moment, and Cheryl furrowed her eyebrows a little. The girl took a deep breath. “I was wondering if I could maybe get your number.”

Cheryl was beyond surprised by the request, and she didn’t know what to say. Why did Toni even want her number? “Um, what for?” she asked.

Toni looked a little surprise by the question. “I… was hoping we could… hang out, or get coffee sometime or something…”

It hit Cheryl then, that Toni was asking her on a  _ date _ , and she blinked in surprise. A girl had never asked her on a date before. She looked Toni up and down, at her petite figure that she hadn’t paid much attention to. She never really examined girl’s bodies unless they were dancing, and Toni stood at the back of the classroom. She was pretty, with smooth looking dark skin, dark brown hair with pink streaks through it, and warm eyes. Cheryl hated that her first thought was that she wouldn’t have guessed that Toni would be into girls, because she knew that looks didn’t correspond with sexuality. “Oh,” she finally said. “Well, I’m flattered, but I’m not—”

“Not into girls,” Toni finished for her. “Got it, really sorry. Thought I might as well shoot my shot.” Cheryl nodded, and the pink haired girl smiled at her weakly. “Well, I should probably go. Sorry, again. I’ll… see you next week.”

Toni turned around, and hurried out of the room. Cheryl’s gaze followed the girl’s figure—she really was pretty. As she watched Toni walk out of the room, something in her chest tightened, and she swallowed, hoping the feeling would disappear. It didn’t, though, and she wasn’t sure what the problem was.

She grabbed her things and tossed them in her bag. Everyone had left the room now, so she left and locked it up, before heading toward the exit. She was glancing around the building as she headed toward the front, and it took her a second to realize that she was looking for Toni, hoping that she would still be out here. Why?

It wasn’t until she  _ did _ see Toni again, when she stepped outside to see the girl waiting for a taxi, that she realized that she  _ wanted _ to give Toni her number. “Hey,” she heard herself call out, surprising both herself and the pink haired girl.

Toni turned and looked at her. “Uh, hey again.”

“Give me your phone,” Cheryl heard herself say. Toni looked at her curiously, but did as she asked. Cheryl opened up a new contact field, typed in her own name, and saved her number. “There. You can text me.”

“Okay…” Toni looked really confused. “Look, if you’re straight, I don’t really…”

Cheryl knew what she meant, even though Toni didn’t finish her sentence. The redhead didn’t really know what to say, because the only reason she’d even given her number to Toni was because of some strange impulse to do so. “I understand,” is what she ended up saying. And then she smiled at Toni, and added, “Text me.” And then she walked past the girl, headed for the subway, and let out a shaky breath.

On the whole subway ride home, her mind was spinning with questions. What was driving her to agree to talk with a girl who was potentially interested in her romantically? She’d never been with a woman before, and she’d never even considered the possibility that she could be gay. She’d always been with men, and sure, it had never worked out well, but that didn’t mean she was gay, did it?

By the time she reached her apartment, her mind had wandered into forbidden territory as she thought about her mother’s claims regarding Cheryl: she was emotionally starved, incapable of love, able only to destroy beautiful things. She began to feel the darkness that came with those thoughts seeping into her chest and her mind, so she immediately got into her shower, trying to drown out her mother’s voice.

It wasn’t totally successful, but when she got out of the shower, she noticed a new message on her phone. Drying her hair, she went over to it and looked at the pop-up. It was from a number she didn’t have saved, so she knew it must be Toni.

Once she was dry, she wrapped her towel around her body and clicked on the notification.

**Unknown – Hey, it’s Toni. Thanks for giving me your number… I just want to make sure things are clear… if you’re straight, I don’t want to be your experiment, but I don’t mind being friends.**

Cheryl saved the girl’s contact and then began to respond.

**Cheryl – I understand, really. I… don’t know why I had the impulse to give you my number. I’m sorry. If you have no interest in being friends, and you’re just saying that to be nice, I completely understand. However, I don’t have many friends, so I wouldn’t mind talking to you. At the very least, if only to figure out why my subconscious wanted me to give you my number.**

**Toni – Haha, maybe the universe was speaking to you.**

**Cheryl – Obviously, the universe does make a habit of speaking to people quite often. T_T**

**Toni – Whoa, tough crowd :(**

**Cheryl – Has the universe spoken to you recently?**

**Toni – I don’t think so. Well, maybe. But if it really is, it’s sending me some weird mixed messages.**

**Cheryl – I feel like it must always do that, right? It’s the universe, shouldn’t it know everything that’s happening in the whole world? How can it send clear messages in that case?**

**Toni – You make a good point.**

Cheryl smiled to herself a little, and then set her phone down so that she could finish getting ready for bed. She put her long red hair up into a bun and changed into pajamas, and only then did she grab her phone again, run into the kitchen to grab some leftovers that she could eat cold in her room, and go fall into her bed.

**Cheryl – Thank you, I try.**

She didn’t get a response immediately, so she moved over to Instagram and began perusing her feed as she ate her leftovers.

* * *

Toni didn’t know what to do. As soon as Cheryl had said she was straight, Toni had counted her as a definite  _ no _ in all departments, including the friend department since she’d already embarrassed herself too much. In fact, as she waiting for her cab, she had started drafting a text to Veronica explaining that she was going to have to quit the class already. But then Cheryl had approached her, and given Toni her number after all. Toni had been surprised, but her immediate concern was that Cheryl was in it for some experiment—the experience. Toni had some experience with girls like that, and there was no ways she was going through it again.

But something about the way Cheryl looked at her when she said “Text me,” the smile that was somehow different than the one she would give the whole class when she dismissed them. It wasn’t a  _ straight _ vibe that Toni had gotten in that moment. And now that Toni thought about it, Cheryl had never straight up said “I’m straight” or “I’m not interested in girls.” Of course, she had  _ nodded _ when Toni had said it for her, but maybe she was questioning. Toni could understand that, although her questioning time period had been a long time ago. She’d known she was bisexual for coming on ten years now.

So, she wasn’t going to cut herself off from talking to Cheryl, because the redhead had expressed that she was not intending to pursue some experiment, but rather that she wanted a friend. That wasn’t exactly what Toni had been wanting to pursue, but after speaking to Cheryl a little bit, she supposed that could be better than nothing. Even if she was still going to stare at Cheryl’s ass every time they were dancing in class.

She missed Cheryl’s last response when it came in, because Veronica had called her asking if she’d talked to Cheryl. The conversation had been a chance to analyze the whole situation:

“So she’s straight?”

“I think so? She said she was  _ flattered _ and I asked if she wasn’t interested in girls and she nodded.”

“But she then gave you her number anyway, a few minutes later?”

“Yep.”

“And you’ve texted with her, and made it clear that you’re not going to fuck with her if she’s straight?”

“Yep, I definitely made that clear twice.”

“And she said she just had  _ some impulse _ to give you her number?”

“That is what she said.”

“Okay, so either she’d being genuine about wanting a friend and she sees that potential in you, or she’s closeted. Right? Those are the only options that would lead to someone saying that, right?”

“I have no idea, I’ve never actually ended up talking to a girl who told me that she was straight when I tried to ask her out.”

“Well, there’s a first time for everything.”

“Yeah, guess so…”

The conversation had gone on a bit longer, and then when it was over, Toni realized that she’d gotten a response from Cheryl.

**Cheryl – Thank you, I try.**

**Toni – Haha of course. I think I’m going to hop in the shower now and head to bed. Goodnight :)**

She didn’t get a reply, but she wasn’t surprised, because she’d talked on the phone with Veronica for quite a bit of time, and it was definitely plausible that the woman had gone to bed. So she did what she said, hopped in the shower, readied herself for bed, and then curled up in her blankets.

She couldn’t get the situation with Cheryl out of her head, even as she tried to drift off, so she just hoped and hoped that she wouldn’t be having another sex dream that night.

* * *

Cheryl woke up Tuesday morning a little bit groggy—she had to be up early, because the first class that she co-taught on Tuesdays was at nine. She dragged herself up out of bed and grabbed her phone, turning off the alarm that had been blaring at her for at least a couple of minutes, and then noticed that she had a text message from Toni.

Her interest piqued, she blinked the sleep out of her eyes and then clicked on the notification.

**Toni – Haha of course. I think I’m going to hop in the shower now and head to bed. Goodnight. :)**

Cheryl smiled a little to herself, before realizing that she did so and furrowing her eyebrows.

**Cheryl – Sorry I missed your text, I think I had already passed out. I have an early class this morning.**

The response from Toni was immediate, somehow.

**Toni – No worries! Plus, you’re not obligated to respond to me haha. But I feel that early morning shit, I work a nine to five job every day so that’s my whole life.**

Cheryl tilted her head at the response. Of course she wasn’t obligated to response to Toni, so why had she apologized for not responding last night? She wasn’t used to this texting back and forth thing, the most she texted anyone was Betty, and even then, that wasn’t very often. When she was dating someone, the back and forth kind of happened, although four or five responses would be spread throughout the whole day.

Cheryl shrugged it off and sent another text.

**Cheryl – What do you do?**

She didn’t wait around for a response, though, because she needed to start getting ready for her day. About an hour later, though, when she was walking out of her apartment to catch the subway, she finally opened her texts.

**Toni – I’m a photographer and web developer :)**

**Cheryl – That’s impressive.**

**Toni – Thanks, it definitely sounds more impressive than it is, to be honest.**

Cheryl though about what to say next, and she had a feeling that she was overthinking as she wondered if she should maintain the same topic—talk about work—or change the topic. Rolling her eyes at herself, she sent another text.

**Cheryl – So why dance classes?**

She knew she wasn’t the best at conversation, but she’d never been so self-conscious about it. In fact, she _wasn’t_ _ever_ self-conscious. Not when people complimented her, criticized her, joked about her. Nothing could phase her, but simply texting with this woman was making her nerves come out?

**Toni – Oh, it was Veronica’s idea. She just broke up with her boyfriend a few weeks ago, and she wanted a hobby. She kept talking about how much she misses dance and how she wanted to make a donation to DHS and stuff. But apparently she wanted to start dancing again too. And well, I got dragged into it.**

Cheryl read over the text as she walked down into the underground, glancing up as she navigated to her correct train.

**Cheryl – Oh, right, Veronica. I think she did make a donation last week. V. C. Lodge, right?**

**Toni – Yeah, that’s right. She’s loaded haha.**

**Cheryl – So you did not want to join the class? But you decided to stay in it even after the free class?**

**Toni – It’s not that I don’t like dancing, I just didn’t know if it was going to be an actual good way to spend my time. So far it’s been good :)**

Cheryl was on her train now, one hand holding on to one of the poles and the other hand beginning to type out a response to Toni.

**Cheryl – Well, I’m glad that you like it.**

**Toni – Yeah :) Well hey, I just got to the office (early because I’m a great employee spread the word to Veronica), so I’ve gotta go. I hope you have a good day :)**

**Cheryl – Thank you, I hope you do as well.**

Cheryl put her phone away, feeling disappointed that the back and forth was ending already. She liked texting Toni, more than she ever liked texting with anyone else, and they weren’t even really texting about anything that interesting.

She made it to DHS and to her class about ten minutes before it started. Therese, her fellow Pixie and co-teacher for the class, was there already. “Morning!” Therese greeted her.

“Good morning,” Cheryl replied.

Therese gave her a smile. “You look happier than normal today,” the girl commented. Cheryl knew that Therese had a habit of being a bit blunt—normally in a somewhat rude was—but she was surprised by this comment.

“Do I?” Cheryl wondered.

“Yeah. Your eyes seem brighter or something. Good morning? Or good night last night?” Therese wiggled her eyebrows suggestively, and Cheryl’s eyes widened.

“No, nothing like that,” Cheryl insisted. “I just have been texting this girl, and she’s nice.”

“Oh, I didn’t know you swung that way,” Therese commented curiously.

“Oh no, I don’t,” Cheryl said quickly, surprised at how defensive she sounded. “No, we’re just texting as friends.”

Therese looked at her funny. “Okay, if you say so.” She laughed a little. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you say anything with that much emotion before.”

Cheryl ignored the statement, because one of their students entered the room, so Cheryl just went and set down her dance bag and started getting ready to teach.

But she couldn’t stop thinking about the comment that Therese had never heard her speak with so much emotion as she did while being defensive about not being into girls. She tried to ignore it, tried to insist that Therese must be wrong, but the thought kept lingering in her head.

Because maybe Therese was telling the truth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hmm, so Cheryl's enjoying texting Toni, huh?  
> You know when you have a plan for the story, and then it yanks the reigns away from you and just kind of runs off wherever it wants to? I feel like this is the beginning of when this story did that to me haha. So many things I didn't plan ended up happening, although I think it was better than whatever I was coming up with. After all, this story was me finally pushing through writer's block - it's the first thing I've completed since "She Didn't Know It Then" ! Although, things seem a bit better now, as I'm like probably halfway or over halfway done with another Choni story...  
> Did I mention that the title of this story is a line from a song? +10 arbitrary and random points to anyone who can guess it. The song makes an appearance toward the end of the story, but it was the song I listened to a lot in the beginning of writing this to get me in the right vibes haha.  
> I hope you all have a lovely weekend! Next chapter on MONDAY! I won't forget, I'm done with finals and I have lots of time so if I do forget, someone go yell at me on Twitter @BrittzandTana !!


	5. The Texts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toni and Cheryl start texting a lot, and Cheryl finds herself enjoying the conversations more than she expected. And Toni is also taken a little aback by the supposedly straight girl she's been crushing on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hellooooo friends! Sorry this update is coming at you so late - at least I'm still updating on the right day! At least in my timezone haha. I'm struggling with the fact that I have a ton of free time this week, and I know that sounds weird, but I have a few important things to do this week and I'm procrastinating by playing games and not doing much at all lol. So, I'm getting stuck in a lazy mindset since the semester is over. But, I wouldn't miss another update day haha!  
> I want to thank you all so much for your comments thus far, they've meant so much to me and I feel very welcomed back onto Ao3 even though I was totally MIA for like, a year lol. I'm so excited to keep on writing for you guys! Also, don't forget to hit me up on Twitter @BrittzandTana to keep up with my life and my fanfic!!  
> Alright, here's the next chapter lovelies! Enjoy!

It was Friday night, and Toni was  _ drunk _ .

Veronica had dragged her, Sweet Pea, Fangs, and also Kevin out to a bar, where they’d downed a few rounds of shots before Kevin managed to convince them all to go to a club. So that’s where Toni was now, with her friends, laughing at things that her friends were saying even if they weren’t funny, and having to lean on Veronica a little bit.

“I can’t believe you guys convinced me to come to a club,” Sweet Pea was saying. He was looking less uncomfortable than when they’d first come in, because he was a bit more drunk now, but he still didn’t look like he felt completely comfortable. He liked bars and hated clubs. Toni was usually in agreement with that, but when she was with Veronica, she didn’t mind clubs.

“Aren’t you having fun?” Veronica exclaimed, and Toni laughed.

“He hates clubs,” she explained to Kevin.

“What’s to hate about clubs?” Kevin wondered. “They’re so  _ fun _ , right?”

“Hell yeah!” Fangs exclaimed. “Hey, more shots?”

“I like the way you think!” Kevin exclaimed, grabbing Fangs’ arm and dragging him back toward the bar. Toni laughed at them, then looking back to her other friends.

“Can’t we find somewhere to sit?” Sweet Pea asked. “We’re not even dancing!”

That was true, they were standing on the edge of the dance floor but not dancing. Veronica laughed at him. “Come on, I think there are couches this way!” She moved away from Toni and began leading Sweet Pea away, and suddenly Toni was alone. She thought about following them, but before she could decide, she felt her phone vibrate.

She grabbed it out of her pocket as she stumbled over to the wall, leaning against it. The text was from Cheryl, which she expected.

She and Cheryl had been texting all week. The conversations had all been very typical get-to-know-you texts. She got to hear about Cheryl’s dance classes and practices, and she told Cheryl about her job at V. C. Lodge. Other than that, they’d talked about favorite foods and shows they’ve been watching recently. Nothing deep, but somehow, the conversations had still been all pretty enjoyable. Toni was honestly surprised that Cheryl was still wanting to text her, though.

**Cheryl – Just got out of the dance studio. Someone came in for open practice today and stayed so late, so now I’m going to have to buy food because I was planning on cooking tonight and now I don’t have time.**

**Toni – Just cook anyway and go to sleep suuuuuper late!**

**Cheryl – I definitely do not have the energy to do that.**

**Toni – Well, what food are you going to buy? Ronnie and I always get BURRITOS when we get food after dancing—they’re very good post-dance foods! Well, I guess we’ve only done that once, but still!**

**Cheryl – Burritos sound good, but I haven’t decided what I’m going to get yet.**

**Toni – Maybe you don’t eat burritos. You’re like a professional dancer, you probably eat like salad and healthy food. That’s probably how you always look so hot.**

Toni hardly even realized what she’d just sent, because her brain was too foggy to remember that she was supposed to be maintaining platonic conversation with Cheryl. Cheryl didn’t respond right away, so Toni decided to message again.

**Toni – Well, you’d probably look hot even if you did eat a burrito every DAY.**

**Cheryl – Are you flirting with me, Toni?**

Toni blinked, and only now did she realize her mistake.

**Toni – Whoops. Maybe. Sorry, I’m really DRUNK.**

**Cheryl – I had the feeling that you were drinking, believe it or not.**

**Toni – Well, I’m really sorry. No more flirting!**

* * *

Cheryl was on the subway home as she texted drunk Toni, and she would never admit that she was actually grinning as she texted her. From the first message she’d gotten from her, she’d assumed she was drinking, but the next message really made it clear.

**Toni – Maybe you don’t eat burritos. You’re like a professional dancer, you probably eat like salad and healthy food. That’s probably how you always look so hot.**

Cheryl’s jaw almost dropped when she read it, and she didn’t even know how to respond. She could feel that her cheeks had warmed up. But she was usually not fazed by people calling her hot, and she definitely was used to it. Plus, of course Toni thought she was hot, she’d asked her out less than a week ago. So why was Cheryl at a loss for words.

Luckily, Toni texted her again a minute after. Unluckily, it didn’t open up the range of things Cheryl could reply with.

**Toni – Well, you’d probably look hot even if you did eat a burrito every DAY.**

Taking in a breath, Cheryl decided what to send in response.

**Cheryl – Are you flirting with me, Toni?**

The train stopped at her stop, so Cheryl got off, trying not to glance at her phone for a response every few seconds. Only once she was walking out of the underground did she look back at it.

**Toni – Whoops. Maybe. Sorry, I’m really DRUNK.**

**Cheryl – I had the feeling that you were drinking, believe it or not.**

**Toni – Well, I’m really sorry. No more flirting!**

Cheryl felt her expression fall as she read that. She pocketed her phone without responding, trying to untangle her confusing thoughts. She had really enjoyed talking to Toni this week, and somehow, reading the message where Toni called her hot could make her  _ blush _ . This woman was somehow affecting Cheryl more than anyone ever had, and she could not just pass up whatever this was.

Once she entered her apartment, shrugging off her coat and dropping her dance bag on the floor, she went to her bed and finally decided to text Toni back.

**Cheryl – What if I like the flirting?**

* * *

Toni was back to hanging out with her friends, over at some of the couches that club had, when she got the next text from Cheryl. She hadn’t really blamed Cheryl not responding before, but she had been hoping that the flirting could be water under the bridge.

But Cheryl’s response took her completely by surprise.

**Cheryl – What if I like the flirting?**

“Holy fuck,” Toni said out loud, forgetting that her friends were all around her.

“What?” Veronica asked, snatching Toni’s phone from her. “Oh my god! You turned our dance instructor gay!”

“Wait, what?” Kevin asked, laughing.

“Whoa, whoa,” Sweet Pea exclaimed, “the one you had sex dreams about?”

Kevin gasped. “You had a sex dream about Cheryl?”

“Two!” Fangs corrected, nudging Kevin and wiggling his eyebrows.

“Oh my god you shitholes!” Toni exclaimed, grabbing her phone back from Veronica. “I didn’t turn her gay! I asked for her number on Monday and she said she wasn’t interested in girls. But she was maybe lying—or she’s trying to be one of those dumb straight girls that hooks up with lesbians because they don’t get to cum with boys.”

“Hey, some guys are good at making girls cum,” Sweet Pea defended.

“Gross, shut up, dude, now I’m picturing you fucking a girl,” Toni said, feigning a gag.

**Toni – Do you?**

**Cheryl – I think so.**

“What do I do, V?” Toni whined, showing the new text to Veronica.

“Well ask her to clarify if she’s into girls,” Veronica suggested. Toni groaned at that idea, but ended up sending a text that essentially would accomplish the same thing.

**Toni – Look, I know I’m drunk, but you can’t say shit like that if you’re straight, Cheryl.**

**Cheryl – Maybe I’m not straight.**

Veronica was looking over her shoulder at the texts, and it was at that moment that Toni realized that she was exposing Cheryl’s personal feelings to all of her friends. She locked her phone before replying, and Veronica whined, “Aww! It was just getting good!”

“Look, neither of you,” Toni started, pointing between Veronica and Kevin, “can say anything to her or anyone about this at all, okay? If she’s gay, that’s great for me, but she’s clearly not out about it, so you better keep your mouths  _ shut _ .”

“Hey, gay code of honor, I would never out anyone,” Kevin promised.

“And ally code of honor,” Veronica added, nodding. “You know I wouldn’t say anything.”

“Good.”

She took out her phone again, but made sure that none of her friends could see it.

**Toni – Maybe you’re not?**

**Cheryl – I’ve never thought about it before. Not until recently. I don’t like it when men flirt with me. Of course, I like the attention, but I know they only ever do it to fuck me. But I’ve discovered more and more that men have no capability to make me feel anything—emotionally, physically, or otherwise.**

**Toni – These do all sound like signs that you may be interested in women haha.**

**Cheryl – How did you know you were interested in women?**

**Toni – Honestly? I was fourteen and I kept feeling like I had a crush on this girl, but that I was confused because I’d never liked a girl before, and she was like oh yeah I like you too, and then we fucked.**

**Cheryl – Toni! You had sex when you were fourteen?!**

**Toni – Yeah? Anyway, after that I was like ‘wow I’m bi!’**

Toni had completely checked out of any conversation that her friends were having now, completely absorbed into her text conversation with Cheryl.

**Cheryl – Well, I never had an experience like that. I was raised very particularly, and I was hardly even allowed to decide what my favorite color was, let alone explore my sexuality.**

**Toni – Damn, that sucks. But hey, it’s never too late to go gay ;D**

**Cheryl – I have an idea.**

**Toni – Shoot!**

**Cheryl – Maybe I will take you up on your offer of getting coffee. Tomorrow, if you’re free?**

Toni felt like she sobered up a little as she read that message, and her heart skipped a beat.

**Toni – Yeah, I’m free! What time?**

**Cheryl – I have Pixies practice at eleven, it ends at two. So three?**

**Toni – Yes, for sure. Just let me know where to meet you at three and I’ll be there!**

**Cheryl – Okay, I will. For now, I’m going to let you get back to your friends—assuming you’re drunk with friends, otherwise maybe I should be worried?**

**Toni – Don’t worry, I’m definitely not drinking alone ;) But okay, I’ll see you tomorrow :) Night, Cheryl!**

**Cheryl – Goodnight, Toni :)**

Toni put her phone away, letting out an exaggerated and dreamy sigh, and then collapsed so that her head landed in Veronica’s lap. The girl looked at her in surprise as whatever conversation Toni’s friends had been having died. “What’s that dopey grin for, Tiny?” Sweet Pea asked.

“I’m meeting Cheryl for coffee tomorrow,” Toni answered happily.

“Is that code for getting laid?” Fangs wondered.

Toni flashed him a glare. “No. It’s just coffee.”

“So, you really like her now?” Sweet Pea asked. “Not just because she’s hot, you actually like her?”

“I mean, we haven’t been talking very long. I don’t know much about her other than surface level stuff. But yeah, I mean, she’s super fucking hot, but I also want to know more about her, you know?” Toni said dreamily.

“I think you’re a bit wasted, Toni,” Veronica said with a little laugh.

“Uh excuse you, I’m only a  _ little _ bit wasted,” Toni corrected.

“Wow, I can’t believe Cheryl agreed to get coffee with you,” Kevin mused. “I swear, I’ve heard that she’s like the most closed off person ever. Also…”

Veronica and Toni both looked to Kevin in confusion. “Also what?” Veronica asked.

“Also that she used to be a bitch,” Kevin admitted. “I’ve heard rumors that she had a rivalry with the girl who was on the Pixies before Hannah, and that that’s why the girl left. That was like, over a year ago though. I think the Pixies had five members for a while before Hannah joined.”

“Well, she’s never seemed like a bitch in class,” Veronica stated.

“I agree,” Kevin said, “I’m just saying. That’s why I didn’t expect her to respond well to Toni liking her.”

“Well, Kevin, when you’re as hot as  _ me _ , things change,” Toni said, although now she was a little bit curious about what he’d said. Shaking her head, she looked up at Veronica. “Can I stay at your place tonight? You have ice cream right? You always have ice cream.”

“Of course,” Veronica said with a laugh. “I know you’re only friends with me because I give you ice cream when you come over—that’s why I keep it stocked.”

“Love you!” Toni exclaimed, laughing. “Okay, okay, let’s go!”

“Oh, now?” Veronica asked, glancing around at the rest of the group.

“I should probably head out anyway,” Kevin said. “It’s late, and I have plans tomorrow.”

“I guess that means Fangs and I should head back too.”

And with that, they paid their tabs, left the club, and headed in their separate directions.

* * *

Cheryl got to dance practice Saturday morning in a surprisingly good mood. She had a coffee date at three with Toni, and she was feeling bubbling excitement that would not go away. When she got to the studio, possibly looking a bit peppier than normal, Therese gave her an interesting look, and then turned and said something to another of the girls, Maribel.

Cheryl ignored whatever was happening and set down her bag, and as she did so, Hannah approached her. “Morning, Cheryl, how’re you?”

“I’m actually doing pretty well,” Cheryl answered. “How about you? How are things with your boyfriend?”

Hannah sighed. “I finally broke things off with him last night. We were fighting nonstop all week, and I really couldn’t let it go on any longer.”

Cheryl frowned. “Oh, I’m sorry. Hopefully it will be for the better.”

“Hopefully,” Hannah agreed. “So what’s got you all happy today?”

Cheryl hesitated for a minute, not sure that she wanted to tell Hannah anything about her personal life. Sure, the blonde was the only Pixie who cared to ask about her life lately, but that didn’t meant that Cheryl needed to open up to her. She was about to say something along those lines—that she didn’t want to say—but then Quince entered the room and called them all to attention, so she just gave Hannah a thin lipped smile and got to her position.

It wasn’t until after practice that Cheryl got any indication of what Therese had said to Maribel earlier, when they were packing up their bags and Maribel called, “Hey, Cheryl. I heard that you might be batting for the other team now, if you know what I mean.”

The other girls all looked at Cheryl, who felt anger building in her chest. She turned and looked at Therese, who immediately averted her gaze. Instead, Cheryl looked at Maribel, who met her gaze evenly. “And what if I am?”

“Nothing, I’m just saying, you’ve been all closed off and quiet ever since you got Madison to quit the Pixies, and now you’re going gay? Just wanted to make sure you’re doing okay…”

Cheryl stood up straight, facing all of the Pixies at once, but only making eye contact with Therese and Maribel, looking between them. “Listen here,  _ hag _ , I did  _ not _ intentionally get Madison to quit the Pixies, despite what I know you all say about me. And as far as my sexuality, it has absolutely nothing to do with any of you  _ bimbos _ . So you can all kindly go back to minding your own business.”

She started to turn back to her back, and then Maribel coughed and muttered, “Bitch,” and Cheryl spun back to face her.

“Excuse me?”

“Ladies!” Quince interrupted. “Are you all in high school or something? Practice is over, go home.”

Cheryl sent Maribel a glare of daggers and grabbed her bag, finally making her exit from the room.

Hannah managed to catch up to her a moment later. “Hey, Cheryl, wait!”

Cheryl let out a sigh, and slowed down a little so that the blonde could catch up with her. “What happened back there? I’ve never seen you snap like that.”

“You’ve never seen me do a lot of things,” Cheryl stated bluntly.

“Yeah, but you’ve always been so quiet…”

“You have only known me within the past year,” Cheryl stated, looking directly at Hannah, “and I have changed a lot in the last year. Unfortunately, some people at DHS have a problem with me that apparently, they’ve been holding onto for a long time. I’m not going to do them the favor of explaining whatever that is.”

“Okay, yeah no, you don’t owe me any sort of explanation…”

Cheryl and Hannah walked out of the DHS building, and Cheryl let out a puff of air. “Well, I have somewhere to be, so… See you Monday.”

“Yeah, bye Cheryl.”

Cheryl had to spend the subway ride home taking deep breaths and trying to calm herself down. No one on the Pixies had tried to get a rise out of her in a while, and she’d gotten really good at not provoking them. A year ago, she could not have said that much.

But she didn’t want to think about a year ago, she wanted to think about her coffee date. She’d texted Toni the address of a coffee place down the street from her apartment, and Toni had replied that she would be there at four, so Cheryl just needed to shower quickly and change as soon as she made it home.

So she blocked out what had happened after practice, and started mentally preparing for her date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooh interesting stuff, huh? I don't want Cheryl's coming out to be something super profound for Cheryl, she's been through a lot (which you will of course learn about) and I think she would connect the dots easily. That doesn't mean that everything is going to be easy, there's some shitty people in her life, what's new?  
> Thank you all again for taking your time to come and read this chapter!! The next chapter will be up on Wednesday! For sneak peeks and early updates, hit me up on Twitter @BrittzandTana to see how to get them!!  
> I hope you all have a lovely night/day! I will see you all on Wednesday!


	6. The Coffee Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toni and Cheryl go for coffee and get to know each other more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good morning lovelies! I know, I know, this update was supposed to be up yesterday. Lemme just say, it is very hard to adjust to a 3 day update schedule, considering I've been gone from posting for like a year and my previous update schedule was weekly lol. So, I'm sorry, but I'm doing my best!  
> Thank you to everyone who has been commenting and kudosing and reading! I very much appreciate it! :D  
> Be sure to follow me on Twitter @BrittzandTana to stay updated on when I'm posting, and also just to chat if you want :)  
> Enjoy the new chapter!!

Toni arrived at the coffee shop a few minutes before four, and Cheryl was nowhere to be seen. She leaned against the inside of the wall, feeling her heart rate pick up as the time approached four. She thought about texting Cheryl to let her know that had arrived, but she decided to wait until after four to do so.

That wasn’t necessary, however, because at exactly four, the door swung open, and Cheryl walked into the coffee shop.

Toni should have mentally prepared for the fact that Cheryl was going to be wearing regular clothes, not dance clothes, for the first time, but she hadn’t, and she stood in awe for a few seconds as she took it in. Cheryl was wearing very tight, curve hugging, dark wash skinny jeans, a red sweater that was tucked into her pants, and her usual red lipstick.

“Toni?” Cheryl said, breaking Toni out of her trance. “I said hello.”

“Sorry,” Toni apologized, “hey! How are you? How was Pixies practice?”

“It was alright,” Cheryl answered, “although a few of my fellow dancers have decided that it’s the right time of year to try and get under my skin.”

“Oh, that doesn’t sound good at all,” Toni said with a laugh. “Well, maybe some coffee will get your mind off of it? What do you want?”

They got in line for coffee as Cheryl looked over the menu. “Just plain black, I think.”

“Really? You can drink that shit?”

Cheryl looked at Toni pointedly. “Yes, and I’m sure it is much healthier whatever extra things you add to  _ your _ coffee.”

Toni laughed. “Maybe, but it tastes like shit.” They reached the counter, and Toni glanced at Cheryl. “Is it okay if I pay?” She could see the surprise come over Cheryl’s face—surprise that Toni had asked rather than do it one way or the other. But the redhead nodded, and then Toni turned to the barista. “Can I get a black coffee, and a medium vanilla latte please?”

“What size on the black coffee?” the barista asked. Toni looked to Cheryl.

“Medium.”

“Alright, and a name for the order?”

“Toni.”

“It’s gonna be seven fifty,” the barista said, and Toni handed over her debit card. As soon as the woman had charged her, she told them they would call her name out soon, so Toni and Cheryl went to sit down.

“So. How was your escapade with your friends last night?” Cheryl wondered.

Toni chuckled a little at the wording, and answered, “It was good. Got pretty drunk—thought not enough to black out, so hey, I consider that a win. I managed to get some free ice cream out of the night too—from Veronica.”

“That does indeed sound like a success, then,” Cheryl replied in amusement. “I was surprised by how much time you actually spent texting me. I would’ve thought you’d be preoccupied.”

Toni didn’t know how forward to be in her response, so she hesitated for a second, before straightening up a little and finally saying, “Well, how could I not want to talk to you?” She swore she saw a little bit of pink appear on Cheryl’s cheeks, but other than that, she didn’t get much of a physical reaction from the woman.

Toni’s name was called out all of the sudden, and she got up to go grab both of their drinks. As soon as she came back, she handed the black coffee over to Cheryl. “Thank you,” the redhead said, before taking a sip. “This place has my favorite coffee. I usually come here when I desperately need caffeine.”

Toni took a sip, and then nodded enthusiastically. “It is really good. So do you live around here then?”

“Yeah, about one block from here,” Cheryl replied. “Sorry if it was far for you to get here, I just was on a bit of a tight schedule since I got out of practice at two.”

“No, it wasn’t too bad,” Toni assured her. “It was close enough that I sucked it up and took the subway. I need to be better about that.”

“Better about it?”

Toni nodded. “I’ve gotten into a bad habit of taking cabs everywhere. My bank account is not really thanking me for that.” She could tell that Cheryl was analyzing her, and Toni just stared back at the girl. Cheryl came off as… well,  _ rich _ . Her outfits looked beautiful, her red lipstick always flawless, and… she just had that sort of demeanor about her. Toni, however, knew that she came off more as a small town, bad childhood success story—even if just by the streaks of color in her hair and her fashion sense. She was wearing ripped jeans with fishnets under them today, as well as a tight purple shirt and her leather jacket—which was going to start getting some more use now that it was really getting colder out.

“I never really got used to taking cabs,” Cheryl finally said. “I grew up in a small town a little ways out of New York—Riverdale. Public transportation was not a thing, and I had a really nice car. A red, 1961 Chevy Impala—a convertible, too. But when I left home, I couldn’t take it with me—no reason to waste my time driving in New York. The subway is much more convenient.”

So that confirmed it—Cheryl  _ was _ rich. “More convenient sure, but the subway compared to a nice car like that…”

“I know, a major downgrade,” Cheryl agreed. “But, even if I had wanted to keep the car, my parents wouldn’t have let me.”

Something about her expression told Toni that she shouldn’t entertain that topic at all, so she decided to switch gears. “How long have you lived in the city for?”

“Hmm, about five years? Since I graduated high school. I left town to come to college here,” Cheryl answered. “What about you?”

“I’ve lived in the city my whole life,” Toni answered, “although I’ve been all over it by now. But the area I mostly grew up in was pretty shitty, and our high school closed halfway through my freshman year. I ended up having to transfer to a nicer one a further distance away, and that’s how I met Veronica. Thank god, too, because my life probably would’ve been a lot shittier if I hadn’t ever met Veronica.”

“You work for her, right?” Cheryl asked. “I thought you mentioned that.”

“Yeah, I do. She owns that clothing line and company—V. C. Lodge—that we talked about.”

“That’s very impressive.” Cheryl nodded her approval. “Have you always been interested in photography?”

“Pretty much since the first time I got to hold a real camera that wasn’t on a phone—freshman year. Even my shitty school had a newspaper club, and I started photographing for it before it closed down. Then when I transferred, I did the same thing at my new school. I kind of just fell in love with it from the second I tried it. You know?” Toni smiled.

“Yes, that’s how I felt with dancing. I did dance classes when I was little, and then did cheerleading in high school. When I went back to dance classes after high school, I was honestly blown away by how strongly I enjoyed it. It’s the only thing that has ever brought me such a level of happiness.”

Toni nodded, still smiling. “Did you go to school for dancing?”

Cheryl averted her gaze now, looking down at her coffee and taking a drink from it. Toni realized that, somehow, she must have hit a sore topic, but she wasn’t sure why. “Not exactly,” Cheryl answered finally. “I… didn’t finish college. I wanted to focus on dancing.”

“Hey, that’s perfectly valid,” Toni assured her, and she was surprised by the look Cheryl gave her. It was full of vulnerability and doubt, and it somehow didn’t fit on that beautiful face. That face was meant to bear smiles and glares, not such an insecure look. “Seriously. I never thought I would even go to college. I almost dropped out like five times because I thought I wasn’t going to be able to pay the next semester. I literally scraped by.”

Cheryl just nodded, and Toni decided it must be time for another new topic.

“So… what’s your experience dating?” she wondered. “You don’t need to go into sexuality details, I’m not asking because of that.” She was kind of, though. When she’d woken up earlier, and reviewed her texts with Cheryl sober, she found herself doubting what Cheryl had said. She knew that it wasn’t fair to assume, though, so she was giving it a chance, and trying to believe that Cheryl wasn’t straight. But as much as they talked, and as nice as it was, it could very easily be platonic. This was her way of testing the waters beyond that.

Cheryl let out a puff of air. “Bad,” she stated plainly, rolling her eyes. “I have a horribly inconvenient habit of meeting men who are nice and who say they like me, dating them for a few weeks, and then getting bored of it all and dumping them.”

“Wow, a heartbreaker,” Toni mused, lifting her eyebrows.

“Yes,” Cheryl agreed, “I guess. The last guy—I broke up with him a couple of weeks ago, actually—he was so ready to commit to me… and I just couldn’t. He evoked no feelings from me, and…”

“And?” Toni wondered, curious now.

“And the sex was terrible. I wouldn’t even  _ try _ to fake it, and he would still assume I had a good time,” Cheryl complained, getting a laugh from the pink haired girl. “Excuse me, it’s not funny.”

“It kind of is,” Toni argued, stifling another laugh.

Cheryl sniffed defensively. “Do you have much experience with men? You said you’re bisexual, correct?”

“Yeah,” Toni confirmed. “My experience with girls and guys is mostly equal, but there’s just something about girls that is just… better? I don’t know, that’s a personal preference I guess. But I’ve dated mostly shitbag guys, so that’s probably why. And I’ll tell you what, none of them have ever been able to fuck me as good as any of the girls.”

Cheryl was definitely blushing now, and Toni had a feeling that she didn’t frequently discuss sex in a public place. “Is that so? Even the one who you had sex with when you were  _ fourteen _ was better than all the men?”

“You better not keep mothering me about that,” Toni teased defensively. “To be honest, that might be the only exception. That was my first time having sex in general, so it was just awkward and not great, you know?” Cheryl nodded. “Anyway, yeah, so I’ve been with multiple girls and guys. My last relationship was with a woman, just after college. We dated for… six months? That was also my longest relationship.”

“What went wrong?”

“She moved to Los Angeles,” Toni answered. “I know, long distance is a thing… but I wasn’t in love with her, I didn’t feel the need to put that kind of strain on our relationship if it wasn’t going to be  _ worth it _ , you know? I haven’t been exclusive with anyone since then.”

Cheryl nodded slowly. Toni could tell that something was going through that pretty head of hers, but she couldn’t figure it out without asking, and she didn’t want to overstep. “That makes sense,” the redhead finally said. “I don’t think I could do long distance either.”

* * *

Cheryl was having a hard time on this date. She’d never been on a date where she’d enjoyed the other person’s company as much as she was enjoying Toni’s, and it was hard to wrap her mind around the fact that the spark she felt around Toni was one of romance. It was all starting to click in her head, her whole life beginning to make sense. She’d never felt any sort of sparks with men, but she’d felt them often for her female friends. Of course, she had been raised to think that being gay was a terrible fate, so she’d never considered that those sparks were one of romantic interest. Now, though, as she took in Toni’s appearance—her slightly grunge, yet also put together style, her long dark hair, brightened with pink streaks, her soft eyes, dark like hers but somehow softer… Cheryl’s interest was fully piqued. The more she realized it, the harder time she had continuing the conversation, her mind swirling with realization and awe.

“You okay, Cheryl?” Toni asked. “Sorry if we got to talking about too serious of stuff…”

“No, it’s completely okay,” Cheryl assured the shorter girl, followed by taking a sip of her coffee. The caffeine was helping her mind to settle. “I guess I am just contemplating… my life. My feelings. Why I have always lacked true connection with people. I never considered that I might be gay, I would have been an even bigger disappointment to my mother if I was gay… if I  _ am _ . But… it explains everything perfectly—looking back at my cloudy past becomes like looking through a glass of pristine water…”

Toni was looking at her with slight amusement, but mostly her eyes were full of interest, and Cheryl felt her cheeks warm

“Sorry, I’m just not… accustomed to thinking about this…”

“That’s okay, really,” Toni insisted. “I’m just trying to figure you out, honestly.”

“That might take more time than it’s worth,” Cheryl admitted.

Toni stared at her for a moment. “Well, I guess only time will tell then, huh?” A smile tugged at the corner of Cheryl’s lips, and she took another drink of her coffee too hide the blush coming to her cheeks.

* * *

When Cheryl arrived home, it was nearing five in the evening. She and Toni had spent nearly two hours sitting and chatting at the coffee shop, and after Cheryl had given her admission about thinking that she probably was gay, the conversation had lightened up. She could tell that Toni was talking to less gently from that point on—in the beginning, she’d been treading with utter care, Cheryl had noticed. They talked about the city and their favorite parts of it, they talked a bit about their friends—Cheryl heard some strange names that belonged to Toni’s, and she wasn’t sure she even remembered them. Cheryl mentioned her cousin Betty and Hannah, the newest member of the Pixies.

It had been easy, after Cheryl had let herself fully enjoy the girl’s company, it had been nice even. Cheryl hadn’t enjoyed sitting down and talking with someone that much in… well, years. Not since her brother…

She pushed the thought aside, taking in a deep breath and letting her eyes flicker closed. She’d been seated on her couch for a few minutes since she’d come in, and she wasn’t about to let thoughts of him bring tears to her eyes, not after she’d had such a great afternoon.

Once she successfully evaded the tears, she realized that the only thing she wanted to do in that moment was text Toni, the girl she’d just gotten done having coffee with. Shaking her head, she decided to instead review the dance she was putting together for Toni’s class. She had the general idea planned, but she had a few modifications she wanted to make after the last class, and she’d been planning to do it this weekend, so what better time than now?

* * *

Toni’s phone rung just as she entered her apartment, and she answered it without looking. “Hello?”

“You answered! So your date is over?” It was Veronica. “You didn’t text me back, but I figured a call couldn’t hurt. You know. In case you were murdered or something.”

“You’re so weird,” Toni accused. “But yeah, it’s over. I just got home.”

“How was it?”

Toni smiled to herself, locking the door behind her and going to flop down onto her couch. “It was really good. We talked a lot and we definitely hit it off in that department. Cheryl’s kind of coming to terms with her sexuality, though, so.”

“So you didn’t get to kiss her?”

“No, god I wish I had, though,” Toni admitted. “But… I can tell this is a hard time for her. I don’t want to push her or anything, you know? I’m just grateful that she’s even giving me the time of day.”

“Bet you can’t wait till she’s giving you the time of  _ night _ .”

“Oh god, V,” Toni said, laughing and shaking her head. “I think she’s got a rough past, though. Maybe with her family? I don’t know, she didn’t give me any details—which is totally valid. Plus, I probably wouldn’t tell you if she did.”

“Of course,” Veronica answered with understanding. “But she’s still worth the time? Everything considered?”

“I mean, nothing has been a real red flag yet. Usually, I wouldn’t be super into being part of someone’s coming out… but I don’t know that I really am for her. Like yeah, maybe I was the trigger, but it sounds like the feeling isn’t new to her. She just never knew what to think of it as. So I’m trying to give it a chance. And not even just because she’s so fucking gorgeous, but she’s just… I don’t know, there’s something about her. She’s got a tough exterior, but I get the vibe that she’ll melt for  _ someone _ …”

“And you think that could be you?” Veronica asked, no judgment in her voice.

“I’d like it to be,” Toni admitted. “God, how do I sound like such a sappy romantic after one date? I don’t know, I just liked talking to her, and she’s just so captivating…”

“Hey, that’s how attraction works. You don’t need to explain your reasoning,” Veronica told her with a laugh. “Anyway, I’m glad it went well.”

“Thanks, me too.”

“What are your plans for tonight?”

“Dunno,” Toni admitted. “Maybe I’ll practice the dance for Monday.”

“Ooh, someone’s getting real into dance class, huh?”

“Hey, I gotta make sure my body is moving the right way now that I’ve got someone to impress, don’t I?”

“For sure,” Veronica agreed with a laugh. “Well, okay, have fun. Maybe let’s grab lunch tomorrow?”

“Deal! See you, V.”

“Bye!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oooh! First date sorta? We got a little look into Cheryl's life and some into Toni's as well. I'm excited for you guys to learn more :D  
> Again, thank you all for reading and I hope to see you all in a few days for the next update! Of course, it will be scheduled for Saturday, but I'm road tirpping on Saturday and going to my girlfriend's sister's choir concert that night, so please don't be surprised if it's up on Sunday instead!  
> Have a great weekend, everyone!! x


	7. The Flirting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cheryl and Toni are getting into the flirting stage, and Toni finds herself starting to fifth wheel in her friend group.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey friends! Yeah, I missed update day yesterday, but I warned you guys that that might happen, so I don't feel too bad about it. I'm officially home for winter break! Well, me and my girlfriend will be going back and forth between my parents' house and her parents' house for the next 18ish days. Damn, it's going to be a good break.  
> I can't promise my update schedule will go perfectly during Christmas this week, but I will try my best! If I'm successful, it'll mean update on Tuesday and Thursday! Wish me luck in succeeding with that haha!  
> If you wanna keep up with me over the holidays, you can of course find me on Twitter @BrittzandTana, I tweet about fanfiction as well as just about my life, so come chat with me :) I've gotten quite a few new followers since posting this so I assume some of them must be some of you! Feel free to tweet at me and say hi if you came from this story! :D  
> Alright, enjoy this chapter lovelies!

Cheryl had  _ never _ been nervous to get to one of her dance classes before. Of course, the first day was always a little nerve-wracking, and the very first class Cheryl ever taught was a mildly terrifying experience. But sans those experiences, Cheryl had never been fiddling with her fingers, checking herself in the mirror, or feeling such a high level of stress before any class.

She’d arrived in the dance room about twenty minutes before the Monday class started—early even for her. She ran through the part of the dance she was teaching them today a few times, without music, trying to get her anxiety under control. She knew perfectly well why she was so anxious, but she didn’t want to dwell on the feelings that a certain woman was giving her.

She’d stopped practicing by the time the first person walked into class—Kevin, she recognized. Toni had mentioned that she and Veronica had started hanging out with him, and Cheryl knew that he’d been in classes at DHS before, but she’d never really met him. He greeted her as he walked in, and she just gave him a curt nod.

Seeing everyone walk into the classroom slowly and start talking to one another somehow calmed her nerves a little. That is, until Toni and Veronica walked in, side by side and chatting amiably, and went over to Kevin. Cheryl only realized that she was staring when Toni glanced at her and met her gaze. Cheryl quickly pulled hers away. She could not get distracted while she was  _ working _ .

She checked the time continuously until it was finally seven on the dot, and she went over to start some warm up music. “Good evening, everyone,” she bellowed, looking at herself in the mirror—and trying not to see anyone in her peripheral. “Let’s warm up before we start.”

Cheryl let the class through their usual warm up of stretches and some rudimentary dance moves. She did a pretty good job of zoning out, not accidentally glancing at Toni even once.

It was when she turned around, facing the class instead of herself, to begin demonstrating the new parts of the dance, that she began to slip up. She would find her gaze lingering on the girl a second too long, watching her do the move—a little unbalanced usually, but otherwise pretty well. She was sure that no one else noticed, aside from Toni of course. She began to see the girl smirking every now and then, and Cheryl would flare her nostrils and try harder to keep looking away.

She didn’t understand how she’d gone from hardly even noticing her—not even knowing her  _ name _ —to a week later, unable to stop glancing at her with curiosity. It was like once she let herself accept what she was attracted to, the attraction grew by a tenfold. It was magnetic, the force drawing her to Toni. But she knew that she couldn’t let go, she couldn’t go flying to her like a magnet would. She could accept that she was gay—if that’s what she was—but opening herself up to anyone was a thousand times more terrifying than being gay.

By the time class ended, Cheryl was exhausted from trying to control her gaze. She dismissed the class, and everyone began to trickle out, save a certain short brunette with pink in her hair. She came up to Cheryl with a half-smile. “Hey,” she said casually.

“Don’t say hey so casually like that, as if you weren’t trying to distract me all class,” Cheryl heard herself whisper angrily at the girl.

Toni laughed a little. “I wasn’t  _ trying _ to do anything.”

“Well, what do you want?” Cheryl asked, knowing that she was doing a bad job of seeming upset. She tried to cross her arms for effect, but still, Toni didn’t seem phased.

“I need to pay?” Toni answered, holding up her card and smirking again.

Cheryl sniffed. “Oh.” She went to reach for her Square reader. “Why don’t you start making the payments online?”

“Because then I wouldn’t have an excuse to talk to you after class, teach,” Toni teased, and Cheryl kept her gaze down as she ran Toni’s card, hoping that the girl didn’t catch her blush.

“Well, considering how you have my number, you needn’t any excuse to speak to me, Toni,” Cheryl stated assuredly.

“You make a good point,” Toni agreed. “But texting isn’t the same as talking. If I’m texting you, I can’t see you right in front of me.”

“Yes well, you win some, you lose some,” Cheryl stated, finally looking up and handing the pink haired girl her card back.

Toni lifted an eyebrow, seeming to take this interaction as some sort of challenge. “I guess so,” Toni agreed, taking the card. “I guess since you’re so adamant about texting, I won’t ask you in person what I was going to…” She heaved an exaggerated sigh and began to turn away.

“Toni,” Cheryl intervened. Toni froze, glancing over her shoulder with that smirk on her face again.

“Yeah?”

Cheryl realized now that they were alone in the room. “You may as well as now, since you’ve already held me up.” She crossed her arms again, straightening up, and Toni chuckled, turning back to face her.

“You wanna get drinks this weekend? Maybe Friday night?”

Cheryl felt her cheeks get warm. “I’m at the studio basically indefinitely on Fridays.”

“Saturday, then?”

“Maybe.”

“I’ll take it,” Toni said, smiling. “I hope you have a good rest of your week, Cheryl.”

“Yeah, you too…” Toni collected her things, but Cheryl found herself just staring as she did so. And just as Toni was leaving the room, she called, “Text me!”

Toni turned her head and gave her a little smile. “As if I wouldn’t have.”

* * *

Cheryl was not looking forward to her first class on Tuesday—the one she cotaught with Therese. Therese, who had been the stem of the drama that had bloomed on Saturday. Of course, Cheryl was not going to let petty drama bother her. The girls in the Pixies had ideas about her that would never change, and so she needed only to suffer through the rough patch until they decided to leave her be. Plus, she could not risk losing the Pixies.

When she got to class, she was fully expecting Therese to say something snobby to her, or give her a glare, or anything, but the girl just gave her a nod and pretended like nothing had happened.

And yet somehow, that was worse. Cheryl wanted her to say something, to admit that she’d told Maribel that Cheryl had said she was talking to a girl—to admit that she’d blown that simple statement out of proportion. Sure, Cheryl was thinking that she probably was gay now, but she had blatantly denied that to Therese. But what had Therese told Maribel? That she was gay.

All through class, Cheryl was hoping that Therese would glare at her, would snicker, would do anything to piss Cheryl off.

But when the class finally ended, Therese simple gave her a little wave and scurried out of the room with the last of the students, leaving Cheryl alone. She let out a noise of frustration, and then grabbed her phone and sat down on the floor, against the mirror. She decided to text the person she most wished she could talk to right now.

Toni had texted her last night, as per Cheryl’s request, and they’d been up late texting back and forth. Cheryl had explained a little bit of the drama that had happened with Therese and Maribel, that the former had caught on that Cheryl probably wasn’t straight, and had outed her to the other girl, who then outed her to the Pixies.

**Cheryl – Therese spent all of class today just pretending like nothing ever happened on Saturday!**

**Toni – Maybe that’s for the best?**

Cheryl was surprised that the girl had replied so quickly, considering that it was middle of the typical workday that Toni worked.

**Cheryl – What do you mean?**

**Toni – You said you don’t want to start anymore drama right? Maybe she doesn’t want to either. Maybe she’s just trying to let it all disappear.**

**Cheryl – It’s all her fault, though, she should at least try to apologize if she’s going to just let it all disappear.**

**Toni – Would you accept her apology if she did try? I sure as hell wouldn’t. Outing someone is totally disrespectful.**

Cheryl thought about that, and realized that Toni was probably right. She didn’t want to forgive Therese, she wanted to fight with her. It was a reaction that younger Cheryl always went to. But younger Cheryl would’ve incited the fight today, even if Therese had completely avoided the subject.

**Cheryl – Okay, you make a valid point.**

**Toni – Thanks, I try :)**

**Cheryl – Why are you texting during a workday?**

**Toni – Just finished a photoshoot. Decided to give myself a break and count it in the time I’m taking to send the photos to Veronica. Shh don’t tell her.**

**Cheryl – Wouldn’t dream of it.**

**Toni – Have you given any thought to drinks on Saturday?**

Cheryl leaned her head back against the mirror, considering it. The reason she hadn’t accepted wasn’t because she was trying to play hard to get, or act coy or anything like that. No, she was genuinely nervous about getting drinks with Toni. She didn’t know if she was ready for it.

**Cheryl – I’m still not sure if I’ll be free that night. I will let you know when I know.**

**Toni – Okay! No pressure, seriously.**

Cheryl let out a happy sigh, and started to text a thank you to the girl. A knock broke her out of her zone, though, and she glanced up at the door, where Hannah was standing. “Hey,” the blonde greeted. “Sorry, your class just ended, right?”

“Yeah, it did. I didn’t realize there was another one after.”

“No, there’s not,” Hannah replied. “Remember, I don’t teach classes?” Cheryl nodded. “I was just going to practice.”

Cheryl stood up. “I was about to head out anyway.”

“Hey, Cheryl…” Hannah trailed off, and Cheryl looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “Are you okay? After Saturday… Sorry, I know I talked to you after, but I just wanted to make sure that you’re okay…”

“I’m okay,” Cheryl answered.

“Alright… Just know, I’ve got your back okay? I’m not really in with the group yet, you know? Those girls are a hard bunch to get in with. Like, I’ve already got to bust my ass twice as hard as most of them just to dance half as well as them, and then when I’m hanging out with them it feels like they’re only even letting me in out of obligation,” Hannah admitted. “It’s annoying. But… I was hoping that we at least could try and stick together during practice?”

Cheryl hated that her first reaction to the statement was suspicion. She didn’t have the best track record with trying to be friends with her fellow Pixies, but Hannah was still pretty new, and she’d seemed genuine up to now. “Of course,” she heard herself finally say. “Anyway, you’re just as good of a dancer as any of those girls.”

Hannah smiled. “Thank you.”

“You’re just lacking the confidence,” Cheryl continued. “Dancing is half about confidence. If you never think that you’re the best dancer on the stage, you won’t ever be.”

Hannah nodded slowly. “That’s good advice. Thanks.” Cheryl nodded her head in response.

“I should go, I’ve got to go prep for my next class. I’ll see you at Pixies practice tomorrow.”

“Bye, Cheryl.”

* * *

Friday night, Toni was feeling a bit glum. Cheryl was working basically the whole day, which meant that her new, regular texting buddy could only reply in short spurts every hour or two. Thus, the workday inched by slowly, and when Toni did finally get off, she actually caught herself considering going to the DHS to get some extra practice—and maybe just happen to see Cheryl while she was there.

But she couldn’t do that, because she didn’t want to come across as that kind of girl to Cheryl. She knew how to play it cool, so she would, even if Cheryl was pretty much the most beautiful human she’d ever seen in her entire life.

Thankfully, when she got home and began her normal evening-in routine of going through Netflix, her phone rang with a call from Sweet Pea.

“Please tell me that you’re going to give me plans for tonight,” Toni pleaded as soon as she answered the phone.

Sweet Pea laughed. “Wow, you just got home from work, right? And you’re already this desperate to socialize?”

“I don’t need to defend myself to you,” Toni answered indignantly. “Well? Were you just calling to mock my reaction to receiving a call from you?”

He laughed again. “Actually, I  _ was _ going to ask if you and Ronnie wanna get drinks with Fangs and I. Oh—Fangs says and Kevin.”

“I’m definitely down. Text me the when and where and I’ll call Ronnie.”

“Great! See you soon!”

She hung up and then almost immediately got a text telling her that Sweet Pea, Fangs, and Kevin be at their usual bar hangout spot at seven-thirty. That would give Toni enough time to get dinner first. She quickly called Veronica, who she had a feeling might still be at her office.

Whether or not she was, Veronica answered her cell almost immediately. “Hey, T, what’s up?”

“Sweets just called me and asked if you and I wanna get drinks with him and Fangs and Kevin tonight? They’re meeting at our usual spot at seven-thirty.”

“Oh yeah, I’m down,” Veronica agreed instantly. “Did you just get back from the office?”

“Yep, he called me just before I was going to change into pajamas and reheat leftovers. Are you still there?”

“I just walked out,” Veronica answered. “You still going to reheat leftovers?”

“I’d rather grab a bite out if you want to?”

“Ah, Toni, you read my mind,” Veronica mused happily. “I’ll swing by yours in a cab, I’ll text you when I’m close. Pick somewhere before then, I’m cool with whatever.”

“Okay, sounds good. See you soon, V.”

* * *

A few hours later, Veronica and Toni had finished dinner, arrived at the bar, and met up with the other half of their group. Kevin had had a round of tequila shots ready once they all got there, and they took them back quickly, ready to start off the night. “Wow, I’m so glad I met you guys,” Kevin said, “I haven’t had a good group of people to go partying with in a while.”

“We’re not always such major party people,” Fangs stated, “but we know how to have a good time when we want to.”

“Well, I grew up basically never being allowed to party. I was in JROTC and all that jazz. Didn’t get to get into musical theater and dance until I moved out, and then most of the people I meet are either way too hardcore of partiers, or one drink kind of people. Which is fine, but man, sometimes you just need a good, chill night of average drunkenness.”

They all laughed at that, and then Veronica ordered a round of beers for them all. Average drunkenness did imply not being wasted, after all, so they couldn’t be doing shots  _ all _ night long.

They caught up on their weeks as they drank, Veronica going off on a tangent to rant about the drama she’d had to dealt with between two of her assistant designers. Sweet Pea announced that he was in the process of getting a new job—he’d been working basically three jobs for a while, but now he had an opportunity to get a not too complex IT job that would pay him enough to drop at least two of those three.

Other than that, most of their conversation was pretty relaxed, jokes and typical back and forth between all of them.

Toni became increasingly aware, throughout the evening, that Fangs and Kevin kept drifting into their own private conversation between the two of them, leaving Toni, Veronica, and Sweet Pea to have a separate conversation. The more that carried on, though, the more Toni noticed that Sweet Pea and Veronica were doing the same thing, which caused her to lift an eyebrow in confusion when she first caught on to it. She thought maybe she was making it up, but the longer it went on, the more apparent it became.

Eventually, Toni ordered another round of shots to get them all back to talking to each other—and  _ her _ —but that sparked an idea from Kevin: a drinking contest. Toni rolled her eyes and opted to not participate, but Veronica and Fangs were all in. Toni was surprised that Veronica was so enthusiastic about it, but she couldn’t read what was going on in Veronica’s head as she started taking back shots one after the other, along with Fangs and Kevin.

Fangs ended up winning, not to Toni’s surprise, though, because at that point, she was sure he was doing it to impress Kevin. And Kevin was impressed, it seemed. Veronica, in the meantime, became a lot more giggly and she was very clearly drunk. It was hard to tell just how drunk though, because the alcohol hadn’t fully set in yet.

Even after the drinking contest, though, Toni found herself withdrawing a bit from the group. She knew that part of it was her own fault, that she was feeling left out because of her own perceptions, but it didn’t change the fact that she noticed her friends dividing into pairs.

She was most curious about Veronica and Sweet Pea, though, because she’d always had the thought that Sweet Pea might like Veronica—after all, Veronica was smart and beautiful and charming. Hell, Toni even liked her when she first met her, if only for a little while before they got to know each other. But she was a bit surprised that Veronica was potentially interested in Sweet Pea, and she was inclined to be worried that these were rebound feelings.

There was no way she could get Veronica alone to talk about it, though, because by the time she thought to do it, the Latina yawned a bit exaggeratedly and said, “I think I’m all partied out for the night.”

“I definitely think we’ve all had enough to drink,” Toni agreed, even though all she’d had was two shots and her beer, which was less than the rest of them, sans Sweet Pea.

They paid their tabs and then started out of the bar. Toni wasn’t sure what time it was at this point, she hadn’t been on her phone, rather she’d been too busy trying to stay involved in conversations and then trying to observe Veronica and Sweet Pea. As they left the bar, Veronica spread her arms wide and let out a bit sigh.

“Ah, I love New York!” she exclaimed, and Toni realized just how drunk she was. “And you guys! You guys are so great! Tiny Toni is so good and tiny, and Kevin you’re cool. Fangs, you’re not at all sharp like your name! Wait, I mean you’re sharp like smart, but not sharp like mean. Wow, that’s a funny word,  _ sharp _ . Oh, and Sweet Pea! You are so sweet, like your name! No wonder that’s what everyone calls you.”

“Okay, V,” Toni said, putting her hand on her friend’s upper back, “I think you should be getting home. Are you going to be okay to take a cab, or do you need me to go with you?”

“I can get her home,” Sweet Pea offered. “I know her apartment is in the opposite direction of yours, but its on the way to ours. Fangs and I will make sure she’ll get home.” Toni glanced at Fangs, and realized that Kevin was pulling him toward the street to get a cab. “Or, well, maybe it’ll be just me. Hey! Fangs! Are you coming back to the apartment?”

“I’m gonna go over to Kev’s for a while,” Fangs answered. A cab pulled up for them. “See you guys later!”

“Well, they’re definitely going to fuck,” Toni commented, once they’d piled into the cab together and it took off.

Sweet Pea chuckled. “Anyway, you go on ahead home, and I’ll get this one home.” Veronica was looking up at the New York sky and leaning against the brick wall, and Toni wasn’t sure she’d seen her friend this drunk in a while.

“Okay, Sweets,” Toni agreed. But then she had the sudden urge to add, “But hey… don’t let her convince you to do anything… crazy. She’s really wasted.”

“I know, Tiny,” Sweet Pea assured her, but thankfully he didn’t sound offended by the request. “I’ll let you know when I get her home.”

“Thanks. Hey, Ronnie, Sweet Pea is gonna get you home, okay?”

“Okay!” Veronica exclaimed, coming back over from the wall. “Wow, you really are so sweet like a sweet pea!”

Sweet Pea laughed, and began flagging down a cab. Toni, on the other hand, decided that she would walk. It was only about a ten minute walk, and upon looking at the time, she saw that it wasn’t even midnight yet, so she felt like it wasn’t too late of a time to be out walking. “I’ll see you guys later!”

“Bye, Toni!”

As Toni started walking, she opened up her missed texts from Cheryl—she had three, she noticed.

**Cheryl – I have finally finished work today. The one nice thing about Fridays is that I get to log so many hours. It makes up for how few hours I get to work every other day.**

**Cheryl – I know it’s kind of late, but it’s also Friday, so I’m quite sure you aren’t asleep yet.**

**Cheryl – You’re probably out with your friends. I hope you are having a good time.**

Toni smiled at the messages and then responded.

**Toni – Yeah, sorry, I was at a bar with V and Sweet Pea and Fangs and Kevin. Just left though. Veronica and Fangs and Kevin had a drinking contest and Veronica got totally wasted. Thankfully, I maintained self-control.**

**Cheryl – Wow, I am very impressed by your self-control, Toni.**

**Toni – Can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic or not, but I’m going to take it like you aren’t and say thank you, I work very hard.**

**Toni – How’s your night been since you finally got off?**

**Cheryl – Relaxing. I grabbed dinner on my way home and then took a bath, which I just got out of, and it was exactly what I needed after today.**

**Toni – Ooh that does sound relaxing. I could use a bath.**

**Cheryl – Yeah, I have some really soothing bubble bath that is one of the few things I let myself splurge on every now and then. It’s really great.**

That confused Toni a little, because she remembered Cheryl mentioning her car in high school and how wealthy it sounded like she’d been. And the expensive way Cheryl dressed and looked, but now she was talking about rarely letting herself spend that kind of money?

But it wasn’t Toni’s place to ask any sort of questions about that—Cheryl’s finances were not her business at all.

**Toni – That sounds heavenly. I’m going to have to borrow some from you sometime :x**

**Cheryl – Borrow it, huh? How do I know you won’t just take it?**

**Toni – Well if you’re so worried, I can just take the bubble bath in your bathtub so that it never has to leave the room :)**

**Cheryl – So now you want to borrow my bubble bath and my bathtub?**

**Toni – Sounds like a win, win, win to me! That’s two wins for me and at least one win for you.**

**Cheryl – What’s my win, then?**

**Toni – I’ll be naked in your bathtub.**

Toni bit down on her lower lip, waiting for Cheryl’s response. She knew that it was probably a bit out of the redhead’s comfort zone to text like this, but Toni couldn’t resist, and she liked this kind of banter with Cheryl. It felt so natural.

**Cheryl – Point taken…**

**Toni – See, win, win, win. ;)**

**Cheryl – So you were at a bar tonight?**

**Toni – Yeah, thanks to my horny ass friends who only invited me to end up being the fifth wheel.**

**Cheryl – The fifth wheel definitely does not sound like the most fun time.**

**Cheryl – So, even though you were out tonight, are you still up for going out tomorrow night?**

Toni’s face lit up as she read the message. She looked up at where she was, making sure that she was paying attention on her walk home, before looking back at her phone to reply.

**Toni – Hell yeah. When are you free?**

**Cheryl – Seven?**

**Toni – Sounds great :) I know just the place to bring you to.**

**Cheryl – Why does that sound so ominous?**

**Toni – I promise, it’s not scary ;)**

**Cheryl – Alright, I guess I have no choice but to trust you…**

**Toni – Don’t worry, your trust is well placed!**

After that exchange, Toni was pretty sure that a grin was stuck on her face for the rest of the night, as she texted Cheryl the whole time she got ready for bed, and then for a while after she was under the covers. Right down to the moment she passed out, she was feeling ecstatic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oooh, we've got some flirtaciousness between Toni and Cheryl! I love the flirting phase haha. And also, Toni's friends are pairing off! I was feeling the Sweet Pea/Veronica ship for this story. Fangs and Kevin I did because it was convenient, to be honest I used to ship them in the show, but I can't say I'm a big fan of Kevin anymore lol. But I love Fangs from the fanfic AUs haha.  
> Y'all, the story I'm working on right now is going SO well! Seriously, I can't wait to be able to post that one too!  
> I hope you all are having a lovely holiday time, and if you don't or can't celebrate any holidays, I still hope you had a great weekend and that you have a great week! Thank you all for your continued support! I'll see you back here on Tuesday! :D


	8. The Club

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toni takes Cheryl out to a club for their second date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey friends! Merry late Christmas! Sorry I didn't post an update on Christmas Eve like I said, things were even more busy than I expected, in a good way! Made lots of Christmas cookies and some cheesecake and hung out with my family, Christmas was very very busy but awesome. I hope you all are having a great week! My girlfriend and I get a second Christmas celebration with her family on Saturday, so I'm still in the Christmas spirit haha!  
> I hope you all enjoy this update! Thank you all for the kudos and comments and whatnot! I appreciate it so much! And don't forget, you can find me on Twitter @BrittzandTana !

Toni woke up to her phone ringing obnoxiously, leading her to groan in annoyance as she reached around for it, her eyes still closed. And that’s how she slammed her hand into her nightstand, shouted some string of unintelligible curses, and finally opened her eyes. For a second, her phone quieted, so she made sure that her hand wasn’t too bruised, and then her phone began to ring  _ again _ .

Sighing, she grabbed it and answered it without looking to see who it was. “What?”

“Toni!” It was Veronica, sounding relieved that Toni had answered. “Oh my god, thank goodness you’re awake.”

“I’m—I wasn’t—ugh. Are you okay? Why are you calling so early? And so many times?”

“ _ Because _ ,” Veronica hissed, “I woke up at  _ Sweet Pea’s  _ apartment!”

Toni’s eyes went wide. “What? Why? What happened?”

“Calm down,” Veronica insisted.

“Hard to do when you literally just called me so many times to tell me that you woke up there!”

“I woke up alone in his bed—he slept on the couch. My head was killing me—I got way too fucking drunk last night. Anyway, I was fully clothed, so nothing happened. Sweet Pea was a total gentleman when I woke him up—he got me some painkillers and water and called me a cab home,” Veronica explained. “Even though it was early.”

“Okay, so nothing weird happened? You just crashed there?”

“Apparently I wouldn’t stop pestering him in the cab last night to let me come over, so he did, but… ugh, T… was I all over him last night?”

Toni thought back to the night before. “Maybe a little bit.”

“God, I’m so embarrassed. He probably thinks I’m… I don’t know, obsessive.”

“I don’t think he thinks that. He probably just thinks that you’re into him, which like, everyone does at this point. So why don’t you just admit it?”

Veronica sighed. “Yeah, okay. I like him. Is that totally stupid? I’ve known him for so long, and I’ve never really been interested in him like that… like, he’s attractive of course, but I’ve never  _ wanted _ him before… until recently.”

“Ew, why would you say it like that?” Toni asked, shaking her head. She finally relaxed back into her bed, as opposed to how she’d been sitting up before. “But… I don’t know, it’s kind of weird, but not in a bad way. I just… want to make sure that you’ve thought about the fact that if you and Sweet Pea get together, that’s going to seriously alter some friendship balance. So you need to make sure that it’s not just a rebound type of feeling that you’re experiencing.”

Veronica was quiet for a moment. “You don’t think I should date him, because it’ll mess up the friendship?”

“ _ No _ , that’s not it at all,” Toni promised. “If you and Sweets like each other, I want you guys to date and be happy, okay? I just want you to think about the fact that you just broke up with Reggie, and if you’re only being drawn to Sweet Pea on the rebound, I don’t want you to ruin your friendship with him because of that.”

“I suppose that… makes sense.” Veronica sighed. “Okay, yeah, that does make sense. I’ll… think about it all. I should probably talk to him about it. And my therapist.”

Toni lifted an eyebrow. “I didn’t know you started going to therapy.”

“It’s very new,” Veronica admitted. “I’ve been very stressed lately, so I figured it couldn’t hurt. I’ve only met with her once so far, so I don’t know if it’s going to be helpful.”

“I’m glad you’re trying it,” Toni said with approval.

“Thanks. Well, I’ll let you get back to sleep. I should probably sleep some more too. I just woke up with like, a lot of adrenaline I guess. Sorry for calling so early.”

“It’s all good,” Toni insisted. “Get some more sleep.”

“Will do. You too. Thanks, Tiny.”

“No problem, Ronnie.”

* * *

Cheryl did not know what to expect for her outing with Toni Saturday night, and therefore, it was all she could think about throughout the day. Even during Pixies practice, she felt her thoughts wandering a lot more than usual in the moments between dancing, so much so that both Hannah and Quince asked her if everything was okay. She assured them that things were quite okay, in fact, but she could tell that Hannah in specific was curious as to what was distracting the redhead.

Cheryl wasn’t surprised when the blonde approached her after rehearsal, as they were headed out of the studio. “Hey, Cheryl, how are you?”

“I am doing quite well, actually,” Cheryl answered. “And you?”

“Same,” Hannah replied. “You seemed kind of distracted today. You sure everything’s good?”

“I’m sure, Hannah,” she assured the other girl. “I just have something on my mind.”

“What is it?”

Cheryl looked at Hannah carefully. “I have a date tonight.”

“Ooh, that’s exciting! I don’t blame you for getting distracted. New romance is always exciting.” Cheryl nodded in agreement. “Well, I hope it goes well. I’ll see you next week.”

Surprised at the blonde ending the conversation there, Cheryl gave her a small smile. “See you.” They parted ways, and Cheryl tilted her head a little, wondering about her apparent new friend. Perhaps Hannah had picked up on Cheryl’s boundaries, realized that she was hesitant to discuss her personal life. Maybe that was why she didn’t push for more information.

Had Cheryl come across a fellow dancer who was actually on her side for once?

So Cheryl spent the rest of the afternoon wondering about Hannah every now and then, but most thinking about Toni and their date and  _ what to wear _ . It was pretty cold in New York by now, but Cheryl still wanted to look… well, sexy. Not that that was hard for her, but the more of the day that went by, the more that she realized that she was  _ horny _ . She hadn’t had sex in multiple weeks, and she hadn’t had  _ satisfying _ sex in far longer than that. She had a feeling that she would be ending this night with her hand down her pants.

So with sex—but mostly masturbating, because it felt sort of weird to be picturing having sex with Toni when Cheryl didn’t even know what lesbian sex was like—on her mind, Cheryl carefully selected a warm, yet very flirtatious and alluring outfit. Black jeans that would perfectly hug her hips and her ass, lace up black boots that had a few red accents on them, a white and black patterned top that had a low neckline, and finally, a dark red colored coat. She coated her lips in a red lipstick that was a bit darker than normal, and over did her eyeshadow and eyeliner. And once she finished, she grabbed her phone.

**Cheryl – So, it’s six… are you wanting me to meet you somewhere at 7, or were you going to come and get me?**

**Toni – Well, I would love to come and get you, but you haven’t given me your address ;)**

**Cheryl – You hadn’t asked.**

**Toni – Can I have your address? :)**

Cheryl sent her address to the pink haired girl and smiled to herself.

**Cheryl – Are you going to tell me where we’re going?**

**Toni – Hmm… I think no, it’ll be a surprise. That okay? ;)**

**Cheryl – I suppose so.**

**Toni – Good. Well, then I guess I will be at your apartment in about an hour. See you then ;)**

The remaining hour crawled by as slow as it could’ve managed, and Cheryl realized how excited she actually was—she’d been completely ready an hour before Toni was even due to arrive, and she spent that last hour trying to put her mind to anything else. Of course, she failed miserably, and when she finally heard a knock on her apartment’s door, she felt a grateful sigh escape her lips.

She grabbed her small purse, slipping her phone into it and checking that she had her wallet and her keys, and moved over to her door. She opened it to reveal Toni, whose hair was considerably more pink than normal. “Your hair’s changed,” Cheryl commented immediately.

Toni grinned. “I redid it this morning! Glad you noticed.”

“As if I would be able to  _ not _ notice, it’s so vibrant,” Cheryl replied. “I like it.”

“Thank you.” Toni smiled again, and Cheryl felt her heart rate pick up. “You ready to go?”

“Yes,” Cheryl answered, walking out of her apartment and locking the door behind her. “Did it take you long to get here?”

“No too long, no, I grabbed a cab and it was about twenty minutes,” Toni replied. “Two of my friends—Sweet Pea and Fangs—live a short walk away from here, too, so I’m kind of familiar with the area.”

“Your friends have interesting names,” Cheryl commented. She’d heard their names in passing by now, but she hadn’t voiced that thought until now.

Toni laughed, and the two of them started out of the building. “Yeah, well, the three of us grew up living in a pretty shitty situation. All of our parents were involved in gang activity… that’s how Sweets and Fangs both got their nicknames that they go by. I never really got involved in the gang activity, though, because my parents died when I was young, and my uncle was totally MIA, and I kind of withdrew from it all, especially when I transferred schools and met Veronica.”

“Wow. That sounds pretty terrible,” Cheryl said, her voice coming out surprisingly sympathetic. She knew that sympathy was something she’d always had trouble feeling for people—thanks to being raised by her terrible parents—but imagining this beautiful, bright woman living so terribly really pulled at her heartstrings.

Toni laughed, though. “Yeah, it was. But thankfully, all of us came out of it on the better end. Can’t really complain.”

Cheryl nodded in response, following Toni as they started walking down the street. “How are we getting to this mystery location you’re taking me to?”

“It’s in walking distance of here, actually,” Toni admitted. “Pretty convenient.”

Cheryl wasn’t one to really explore the city—she mostly kept to herself and to what she knew already—so finding out that the place was nearby was really not helpful in her efforts to figure out where they were going. Not that she was really trying to figure it out anymore at this point—she was entirely too distracted by Toni’s outfit.

The woman was wearing tight jeans that were really ripped up, but with only slightly torn up tights underneath it. The effect was actually really intriguing. Toni was also wearing a nearly sheer black top, which you could obviously see her black bra through. She also adorned a leather jacket, which undoubtedly was the only thing keeping her warm. “Aren’t you freezing?” Cheryl inquired.

Toni shrugged. “No, I’m okay. It’s not  _ that _ cold yet.”

“I suppose we will have to agree to disagree there,” Cheryl argued, shaking her head.

“Are you cold? You’ve got a whole coat,” Toni observed, and Cheryl caught those dark eyes doing a sweep of her whole body. Any cold she was feeling was immediately chased away, being replaced by the heat of the blush she felt creeping through her.

“No, but  _ only _ because of the coat. You’re hardly wearing anything.”

“Are you complaining?” Toni asked, lifting a curious eyebrow at the redhead, who blushed a little darker and said nothing. Toni smirked a little, and extended a hand to Cheryl, who hesitated only for a moment before grabbing it. She felt Toni’s soft hand in hers, and felt herself relax. She hadn’t even realized she’d been so tense.

They walked in silence the rest of the way, Cheryl preoccupied by the way her hand fit perfectly with Toni’s, and blushing a little every time Toni glanced at her. She’d never been so shy around someone before, she honestly didn’t know how she should feel about it.

They finally stopped in front of a building that appeared to be unmarked. After a second of looking at it, she noticed one small sign that read:  _ Sapphire and Ruby. _ “What’s this?” Cheryl wondered.

“ _ This _ is the best gay club in New York City,” Toni asserted, lifting an eyebrow at the redhead, whose eyebrows were raising in surprise. “You up for it?”

“Why not?”

So Toni took them up to the unmarked door and opened it up, and inside was a hallway lit with purple lights. As they walked through it, the sounds of music and chatter could be heard getting louder, and then finally they reached a set of stairs. They climbed down them, and then the club became visible. There was a bouncer leaning against the archway that framed the entrance, and inside, bright lights flashed over a dance floor, people stood crowded around and over by a long bar.

“ID?” the bouncer requested. Cheryl grabbed at her purse for hers as Toni reached for her jacket pocket. They both showed their IDs, were waved in, and then entered the club.

“Pretty cool, huh?” Toni asked, and Cheryl realized that she’d been watching her scan the room.

“I don’t go to clubs very often,” Cheryl admitted.

Toni smiled. “Well, I can assure you that this is going to be a much better club experience than anything you’ve ever had before. Come on, let’s get you a drink.”

Toni ordered herself a beer, and asked Cheryl what she wanted. She requested a cocktail, which Toni ordered without question as well. “I can’t let you buy  _ all _ of the drinks, tonight,” Cheryl told the shorter woman.

“Well then don’t,” Toni answered with a shrug, “but first one’s my treat, okay?”

Cheryl nodded, and then they were handed their drinks. They leaned against the corner of the bar while they were actively drinking. “Do you come here a lot, then?”

“No,” Toni admitted. “Sweet Pea isn’t the biggest fan of the place, and Ronnie’s come with me a few time, but other than that, I’ve only ever come here alone when I’ve been actively looking to hook up with someone. Which isn’t often.”

“Your  _ guy friend  _ Sweet Pea isn’t a fan of watching lesbians dance with each other?” Cheryl asked, getting a laugh and almost a snort from Toni.

“You make a good point. I think he got hit on by a gay guy the one time I dragged him here, and he was a great sport but I think he felt out of place,” Toni admitted. “Which I guess is fair. Fangs would come with me, but he’s not the kind of guy to randomly get with guys, so he’s not the biggest fan either.”

“I’ve never been the biggest fan of going to clubs, but generally I never have good company when I’ve gone.”

Toni smirked. “So, I take it this time might change your mind.”

“It might,” Cheryl confirmed, smirking back and trying not to let a smile break through. “So far, we’re off to a good start.”

“How can I keep us on the up, then?” Toni wondered, taking another swig of her beer.

“Well, first of all, is there some place I can leave my coat?”

It took them a few minutes to figure out where the coat check was, but once they found it, Cheryl left her red coat there, and Toni left her leather jacket. Then they finished off their drinks and left the empty glasses at the bar. “So, you want another drink, or…” Toni drifted off, and Cheryl looked at her curiously, wondering if she was leaving the question open ended on purpose, or if she was feeling nerves. Cheryl couldn’t tell one way or the other—the girl had too good of a poker face.

“Let’s dance.”

Since Toni’s jacket was no longer on, her top was just the sheer black top, and Cheryl could spot the belly button ring that pierced her smooth looking skin. She had to keep herself from continually looking over the woman’s beautiful body as they headed over to the dance floor. There were lots of people crammed there, and they would have to yell to hear each other. But rather than speak, Toni placed her hands on Cheryl’s hips.

Cheryl felt herself shiver slightly at the touch, and she bit down on the inside of her lip. The song that was playing wasn’t particularly fast or slow, so the dance most people were doing was that awkward middle school one where everyone just swayed. But the song changed almost immediately, and she recognized it—Mad Love by Mabel.

If there was one thing that Cheryl was confident in above all else, it was her dance skills. As the music pace picked up, she placed her hands on Toni’s sides, pressing her fingers into the sheer material covering her, and pulled herself a little closer to Toni. Brown eyes darkened, and Cheryl bit down on her lip. She’d definitely seduced a few men here and there by dancing—from her few other clubbing experiences—so she knew how to make Toni want her. But she was more nervous now than she’d ever been.

Toni began to grind into her a little, and Cheryl responded by swaying her body into Toni’s. Then Toni grabbed her hand and very spontaneously spun Cheryl around in a full three-sixty. Cheryl squealed at the sudden change, and Toni laughed. “Someone’s excited, huh?”

“You’re the one who brought a professional dancer to a dance club, Toni,” Cheryl remined her, using Toni’s grip on her hand to pull the smaller girl closer again. “Do you want to me to dance, or not?”

Toni’s face flushed, and she just nodded, and Cheryl began dancing up against her. She could practically feel Toni’s body getting warmer.

When the song ended, Cheryl took a small step away from the girl. “You okay there, Toni?”

“I’m great, thanks for asking,” Toni replied, biting on her lower lip.

They danced for a while, Cheryl honestly couldn’t tell how long it was. They transitioned from sexy dancing to playful dancing and back to sexy depending on the song, and Cheryl found herself laughing and smiling more than she had in a long time. Finally, at some point, Toni was practically out of breath and she tried to say something that Cheryl didn’t catch over the music.

Toni must’ve been able to tell that she didn’t hear, because she then guided them toward the bar again. “I said that clearly, your dance skills expand beyond your stuff at the DHS.”

“Well, I do pride myself on my versatility when it comes to dance,” Cheryl assured her.

“You seem great at everything. Have you ever…” Toni trailed off, but Cheryl had a feeling that she knew what the question was.

“What? Pole danced? Lap danced? What were you going to ask?”

Toni blushed. “Anything like that?”

“Yeah, I did for a little while in college. I didn’t need the money at the time, but I thought it would be fun to try. To be the center of attention and show off my skills. I didn’t last long, though. The men who go to strip clubs are bastards and I didn’t want their grimy hands touching my body.”

“Hands like that don’t deserve to touch  _ your _ body, that’s for sure,” Toni breathed out, eyeing Cheryl up and down. The redhead fought a grin.

“How about I buy us more drinks?”

* * *

They managed to find a seat by the back wall of the club to enjoy their drinks at, and Toni was feeling a bit like she was drunk already, or like she’d somehow gotten high. Feeling Cheryl dance up against her had been surreal, and she was sure that her underwear was soaked at this point. And even when they’d been dancing more playfully, she hadn’t been at all distracted from how gorgeous the redhead was.

But she wanted a chance to talk to Cheryl too, because she didn’t just want sex with Cheryl. She wanted to find out everything about her, and she hadn’t felt that sort of intrigue about a person in a long time.

So they sat down on one of the uncomfortable little couches in the back of the club, in the lounge area, squished fairly close together. “So, how am I measuring up when it comes to clubbing company?”

“Pretty well,” Cheryl answered, but Toni caught her smile in the purple lighting of the club. The redhead had started smiling more and more as they’d been dancing, and now, Toni was confident she could get one of those smiles without too much effort. It gave her a lot of pride, actually, because in class, Cheryl definitely seemed far from the smiley type. “This place has a good atmosphere.”

“Right?” Toni agreed, taking a sip of her beer. “So, how was today with the Pixies? Anymore drama?”

Cheryl shook her head. “Nope, thankfully. Not that I think it’s over. It never is with some of those girls.”

“So what even happened that they’re so salty about?” Toni wondered.

Cheryl took a long drink from her glass, and Toni expected her to shrug off the topic, but when she finally lowered her glass, she simply sighed. “It’s a long story, I won’t get into it now. The short version is that they believe that I bullied this girl out of the group last year, which is completely not true, but because of… my typical behavior at that time, they couldn’t put it past me even when I tried to advocate for myself. So, they basically all hate me for something I didn’t know. All except for Hannah, she’s actually maybe nice?”

Toni laughed a little. “You sound very surprised at the prospect that someone could be  _ nice _ .”

“Oh, Toni,” Cheryl lamented, shaking her head, “you have no idea the number of people I have met who have seemed  _ nice _ , only to end up the worst person imaginable.”

“I’m hoping that you’re being dramatic, but I have a feeling that you’re being completely serious,” Toni commented.

“Completely serious,” Cheryl confirmed. “However, we’re definitely having too much fun for me to go into it now. Anything interesting happen to you today, other than your hair getting pinker?”

“Oh shit yeah, there was actually,” Toni exclaimed, sitting up a little straighter. “Veronica admitted that she’s into Sweet Pea! Which is totally weird, but also not, because it was totally obvious last night.”

“Aren’t Veronica and Sweet Pea basically your two best friends?”

“Yes, which makes it totally weird,” Toni confirmed, “but also, not weird? I don’t know, I told her she doesn’t need to worry about me about it—if she and him want to date each other, they should. But it is weird.”

“Understandable.”

“Yeah. Last night, they were basically just talking to each other the whole time, it was like they kept forgetting about me. And also  _ Fangs and Kevin _ . They’re totally going to start dating. They were even clingier than V and Sweet Pea! So I was basically high key fifth wheeling.”

“Yeah, you mentioned that when you texted me,” Cheryl stated. “I can’t say I understand the feeling, but that sounds a bit infuriating, to be honest.”

Toni shrugged. She finished off her beer, and noticed that Cheryl was almost done with her drink as well. “Want another?”

They ended up going through just one more drink each, and Cheryl talked about the DHS and the classes she taught and what it was like. Toni was becoming increasingly aware of how much Cheryl loved to talk about dance, and how little she talked about other parts of her life. By now, it was clear that there was some bad history that Cheryl avoided in conversation, and although Toni hoped that she would know it at some point, she of course would never ask Cheryl to explain any of it.

When they finished their third drink, they decided to go back to the dance floor and dance a little more, but they didn’t last as long as the first time, both getting a bit tired after five songs or so. It was at that point that Toni felt the night coming to a close.

She and Cheryl found their way back to the coat check, and Toni caught the redhead’s dark eyes glance down at her slightly exposed upper body just before Toni pulled her leather jacket back on.

They walked out of the club back into the cold air of New York City. Toni felt the cold hit her legs through her thin tights that were under her torn up jeans. She pulled her leather jacket a bit tighter around her, and Cheryl chuckled. “So you  _ do _ get cold.”

“Sometimes,” Toni answered, humoring the comment.

“You can call a cab, I can get myself home,” Cheryl assured her.

Toni furrowed her eyebrows. “Do you want me to? Because I’d rather walk you home, but if you don’t want—”

“No, you can,” Cheryl interrupted.

Toni smiled, tucking her hands into the pockets of her jacket, and the two of them started back the way they’d come.

“I had a really good time in there,” Cheryl started. “I haven’t had that much fun out in a while. Thank you.”

“Of course,” Toni returned. “I could tell you were having fun, you looked really… happy.”

Cheryl blushed a little, and Toni found that curious, but she said nothing. After a few silent moments, Cheryl resumed talking. “Have you ever heard from anyone at DHS about me?”

“What do you mean?” Toni asked, but she knew what Cheryl meant. She immediately thought back to what Kevin had warned her about.

“Like… gossip or rumors or anything like that.”

Toni let out a breath. “Yes.” Cheryl looked at her in surprise, like she didn’t expect her to admit it. “Nothing really crazy. That you’re pretty closed off. That you had a rivalry with that girl you were talking about, who use to be on the Pixies? And that you… in someone else’s words, you were a ‘bitch.’”

Cheryl nodded in understanding. “I used to be very blunt, and uncaring about other people’s feelings,” she began to explain. “I would say not very nice things because they were true, at least in my mind. I grew up like that, maybe it was a defense mechanism to keep people out. I was raised very terribly, but that’s a different story, and the way I used to act was acceptable to my family.”

Toni nodded slowly, not really sure that she was following.

“But I want you to know, I did  _ not _ bully Madison out of the Pixies. They think that I did, because I was nice to her—we were friends. Or so I thought. She started trying to befriend me, and I welcomed her into my life, because I was… pretty much alone otherwise. She told me about this great opportunity to get on Broadway as a dancer. So we started practicing extra together, hanging out at her place or mine. It was so strange, I’d never had a friend like that before. But of course, it was all fake.”

“Fake?” Toni wondered, hoping that Cheryl was going to keep going.

“She used me—for what purpose, it’s still slightly unclear. But in the end, she sabotaged my audition for the part,  _ after _ I helped her perfect hers. She got the part, and because of that, she would have to quit the Pixies. As if it wasn’t’ bad enough that she sabotaged my chance at getting it, but when she quit, she told everyone it was because I had been manipulating her, and that she couldn’t take the bullying anymore, and would go find other options.”

Toni was floored. “So, she sabotaged you, and before leaving, turned everyone against you?”

“Exactly,” Cheryl confirmed. “I still don’t know  _ why _ she did it. Maybe because I was a bit flippant in my comments. But I was like that with everyone, I didn’t target people. I know that’s no excuse, but… it was pretty terrible, what she did to me. From that point on, my director insisted that if I was going to stay on the Pixies, I would need to cut out the rude comments. So I got very reserved. But it means nothing to those girls.”

“That sounds pretty terrible,” Toni said, wanting to grab for Cheryl’s hand, but both of their hands were stuffed in their pockets. “I’m sorry. I’m surprised you endured all that.”

“The Pixies is all I have,” Cheryl stated, looking at Toni straight in the eye. “And I wanted you to know what happened before you heard it from someone else, because… I like you, Toni, and I don’t  _ really _ like people very often.”

Toni gave her a soft smile. “Well, thanks for telling me. I wasn’t taking any of the rumors to heart, though, just so you know. I prefer to judge people myself.”

Cheryl lifted an eyebrow. “And how am I doing?”

“Exceptionally well, actually,” Toni informed her, grinning. They were approaching Cheryl’s apartment building at this point, and Toni was feeling a little down at the fact that she was going to have to leave the redhead.

But today, she was not leaving without what she missed out on  _ last  _ time.

When they were stood still outside of the building, Cheryl faced Toni and gave her a genuine smile—a supposedly rare occurrence, even though Toni had seen it many times that night. “Thank you again, Toni.”

“Of course, anytime. And I mean that quite literally,” Toni insisted, smiling in return.

“Well, you know when I’m free,” Cheryl said quietly.

Toni took a step forward, pulling her hands out of her pockets. She brought her right one up and touched some of Cheryl’s bright red hair, gently pushing it back and then pulling Cheryl’s face down slightly toward hers. Their lips met, and Toni felt Cheryl melt against her. Those plump, red lips moved softly against Toni’s, and she felt herself get lost in this new touch. All of their dirty dancing and teasing touching at the club had been amazing, but there was something so intoxicating and intimate about their kiss.

When they pulled away, Toni could feel a little bit of red lipstick stuck on her lips. Cheryl bit down on her lower lip, and Toni felt her cheeks warm a little. “I should go.”

“Okay,” Cheryl said softly. “Text me when you get home, okay?”

“I will,” Toni promised. “I’ll see you Monday, Cheryl.”

“See you Monday.”

And with that, Toni and Cheryl parted ways, Toni going to call a cab and Cheryl heading into her building.

Toni kept replaying the kiss in her head, though, wondering how it had managed to be the best first kiss she’d ever experienced.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading! Sorry again for the missed update, but I hope you enjoyed this chapter enough to make up for it!  
> I'll update again on Saturday if I can, but like I said, I have Christmas 2.0 that day, so perhaps it'll go up Sunday! Sorry for all this craziness! Thank you all for reading! Have a great weekend!


	9. The Bonding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Drama continues with the Pixies, and Toni and Cheryl are getting closer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hellooo friends! So so so so sorry for no update yesterday or all day today! Things have been so wild, yesterday was Christmas at my girlfriend's parents' house, and we were literally busy all day, so I didn't take my laptop out much at all. Then today, we went and saw The Rise of Skywalker (for the second time haha) with my girlfriend's parents, got lunch, I went and got Jedi Fallen Order for PS4, played that, had dinner, played more games... basically, it's winter break and it was the last day her parents had off, so we were making the most of it! After today though, I swear, I'm sticking to the schedule again!  
> I hope you all had a lovely weekend! Don't forget you can follow me on Twitter @BrittzandTana to remind me to update (shoutout to Kathy for reminding me on there today!) or just to see what I'm up to!  
> Enjoy! xx

**Ronnie – I heard that you’ve been distracted all day today…**

**Toni – I don’t know where you heard that, but it’s definitely wrong. Except for right now, while my boss is texting me while I’m supposed to be working…**

**Ronnie – Apparently you keep zoning out and staring off dreamily into the sky, probably thinking about the date that you STILL HAVEN’T TOLD ME ABOUT!**

**Toni – Really, you’re going to ask me to explain my date to you in the middle of the work day? I am your employee, Ms. Lodge, this is unprofessional.**

**Ronnie – I’m coming over to your apartment before we leave for dance tonight so you can tell me all about it before class. I’m still very offended you didn’t call me yesterday.**

**Toni – I was busy.**

**Ronnie – Doing what? Sleeping and masturbating over our dance instructor?**

**Toni – You are so vulgar! And no, just sleeping and getting ready for the photo shoot I had this morning—which I was NOT distracted during, by the way.**

**Ronnie – Okay, whatever you say, Tiny. But I wanna hear about the date tonight, okay? Don’t make me ask Cheryl about it instead.**

**Toni – You don’t have the balls to go up to Cheryl and ask her about it.**

**Ronnie – Is that challenge?**

**Toni – No, but even if it was, I still don’t think you’d do it.**

**Ronnie – Bitch.**

**Toni – But you won’t have to, I’ll tell you about the date before the class. Now can I get back to work, please, Miss Boss Lady?**

**Ronnie – Yeah, get back to work!!**

**Toni – <3**

* * *

Cheryl’s teens class that she taught on Mondays was over by four every week—it took place from three to four, pretty much right after the local schools let out. And during the three hours before the evening class, Cheryl usually went home to enjoy a dinner and a well deserved break after having to deal with teenagers. However, this Monday was different, the dance instructors were meeting with the directors of DHS. It was a routine meeting, one that they had multiple times every season.

It was at five-thirty, so instead of going all the way home, Cheryl had gone out to grab a quick bite to eat and then come straight back to the DHS building. She went up to the third floor, where the various business offices were located, and to the meeting room that was big enough to house all of the directors, a few business managers, and the dancers.

She was glad that they didn’t care about attire at these meetings, because it would’ve been a pain to have to change into business casual clothes in between her two classes. She was still wearing her typical dance outfit—black leggings and a white tank-top today.

She arrived at the meeting room to find almost everyone else was there already. She took the first empty seat she saw, which happened to be right next to Therese, who was sat next to Maribel. She avoided eye contact with both of the girls as she took the seat, keeping her gaze trained on the directors who would be doing most of the speaking during the meeting.

It began a few minutes later. The directors went over a few of the policies that had either changed or that just needed to be restated for whatever reason. Then one of the scheduling managers gave dates for all of the performance dates and times for the winter performances, with exactly timing of the groups to be decided. Then they went around the room to allow all of the instructors to give updates on the plans for the dances their classes were going to be preparing. Some songs had to receive approval and whatnot.

All in all, the meeting was pretty uneventful.

Until the end, when Cheryl started to leave to head down to the studio where her class would be meeting in half an hour, but was stopped before she even reached the elevators. “Hey, Red!” Maribel called from behind her. “Noticed you were getting pretty quiet in practice on Saturday. Like, even quieter than your normal, weird self.”

Cheryl stopped and turned around in one swift motion, stopping Maribel in her tracks. “Well, sometimes sacrifices have to be made—if I wasn’t so quiet, I’d have to be talking. And you know what they say—if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.”

“Excuse me?” Maribel demanded, stepping up to Cheryl as if she was trying to start something, which at this point, Cheryl was not surprised about.

“I know what you think of me, Maribel, so why on Earth would I waste even a second of my precious time on conversation with you?” Cheryl demanded. “You are welcome to keep hating me for something I never did, but the more you try to get a rise out of me, the less important you become to me.”

“As if anyone is important to you, besides yourself,” Maribel spat. “Therese and I keep trying to warn poor Hannah. The rest of us know what you’ll do to her—the same thing you did to Madison.”

Cheryl felt anger building inside of her, but she wasn’t going to give Maribel what she wanted. The other girl wanted her to get angry, wanted her to fight back. But Cheryl knew that fighting back could cost her the one thing in her life that she loved doing, so she would never jeopardize that. “If you’ll excuse me, I have a class to go teach. Because I’m an adult with a job, unlike some people, who seem to think that this is all some game in high school.”

With that, Cheryl turned around and headed for the stairs—if Maribel was taking the elevator down, there was no way Cheryl wanted to be stuck with her in it. Thankfully, neither Maribel nor Therese—who’d been standing behind the other girl the entire time—following her into the stairs. And she made it to the studio without any more issues.

She ran through what she was teaching the class that day a few times, watching herself in the mirror and making sure she had everything right. Surprisingly, she was pretty much unbothered by the confrontation she’d just had with Maribel. It was beginning to get pretty stupid, to be honest, and at this point, she knew that the girl was just trying to drive her out of the Pixies—the same thing she thought that she’d done to Madison. The only reason she was doing it now, Cheryl was sure, was because she’d seen an opening. Cheryl had started talking to Hannah—being more open with someone in the Pixies—and also because she was now somewhat out of the closet. Not that she’d known she was even in a closet until recently.

But somehow, both of those things felt like they were empowering her rather than bringing her down. The more Maribel tried to target her, the more she felt like she was being built up by the things that made her vulnerable. It was a pretty incredible feeling, to be honest, something that Cheryl had never really felt before. Being vulnerable was really not her thing.

And by no means was she ready to open up to everyone she’d ever known, but it was becoming clear that all of the things that her mother had said to her growing up were false. She did have the capacity to be vulnerable and real. She did have emotions—she had just grown up learning to suppress them.

People began arriving right around seven, so Cheryl went over to the speaker and started playing her usual warmup playlist. She tried to stay focused on her phone as people filed into the room, but really, she was hyper aware of each person who walked in. She was waiting for a certain woman with pink hair, of course. And she heard her voice before she saw her, and it made Cheryl’s breath catch in her throat.

Toni and Veronica walked in at the same time, and Cheryl couldn’t avoid looking up at her. Toni met her gaze almost immediately, and she smiled sweetly at her. Cheryl blushed slightly, and tore her eyes off of the girl, not returning the smile but wanting to. But she was also aware of Veronica snickering at Toni, and she didn’t want to give the raven haired girl anything else to snicker at. After all, Cheryl didn’t really know Veronica yet, and although she was sure that Toni must’ve told Veronica that they’d been seeing each other, she really didn’t want to make it obvious to anyone.

“Good evening, everyone!” Cheryl called out in greeting, once she noticed that everyone had arrived, and with that, class began.

She spent the entire class awaiting its end, because she knew that Toni would have to come up to pay for the following week’s class. And sure enough, as soon as class ended and people began filtering out, Toni headed for the front of the room, credit card in hand.

“Hey there,” Toni greeted, drawing Cheryl’s gaze, which had been trained on her phone since she noticed Toni headed toward her. “I saw you pretending like you didn’t notice me.”

“I did no such thing,” Cheryl lied, grabbing her square reader.

“What day of the week do you get off the earliest?” Toni asked curiously as she handed over her card.

“I’m done at seven on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Wednesday nights I have Pixies practice until nine. Fridays… well you know how Fridays go.”

“So, Tuesday and Thursday,” Toni stated, answering her own question now with a chuckle. Cheryl nodded.

“Why?”

“I like texting you,” Toni stated, “but I was really hoping that I could somehow see you in person more than twice a week…”

Cheryl felt her cheeks get warm as she looked down to finish out the payment on Toni’s card. As she handed it back to the girl, she met her eyes and said, “Well, I’m free right now.”

Toni blinked in surprise.

“Or are you busy?”

“No, I’m not,” Toni answered, sounding rushed and amusing Cheryl. “Not busy. Aren’t you exhausted, though? Didn’t you have a meeting or something during your usual break?”

“I am a little tired,” Cheryl admitted. “I was planning on heading home… want to come with?”

She didn’t know why she was feeling so brave, maybe it was because of the confrontation with Maribel. She was feeling invigorated. Toni smiled. “Yeah, sure. But hey, you’ve been dancing a lot the past few hours, let me get us a cab?”

“Hmm, okay,” Cheryl agreed, turning and pulling her things back in her back, letting a smile spread across her face now that she wasn’t facing Toni. “Sorry, let me just grab my stuff.”

“No worries,” Toni assured her.

They walked out of DHS together a few minutes later, and Toni called a cab. Cheryl gave her address to the cabbie, and then turned her attention back to Toni. “So, how are you liking the class?”

“It’s fun. I have a bad habit of getting distracted by the instructor though,” Toni said cheekily, winking at Cheryl, who rolled her eyes. “Really, though, it’s a lot of fun. And it’s fun to hang out with V doing this kind of thing. I think it’s been good for her so far. There’s been a lot fewer emotional breakdowns over her ex since we started.”

“I’m glad,” Cheryl commented. “So, Veronica knows that we’ve been… seeing each other, right? Does anyone else in the class know?”

Toni pursed her lips for a second. “Kevin does. Sorry. It’s technically Veronica’s fault that he found out I was going to ask for your number, but… I let it spill anyway one night while I was drunk.” She winced as she admitted it, but Cheryl honestly didn’t really mind, although she was curious as to what Kevin had thought about that. She recognized him from other classes at DHS, ones that she’d taught, but ones that other members of the Pixies had taught.

“That’s okay,” Cheryl assured her. “I’ve basically unwillingly come out to the Pixies at this point, and I’m starting to feel indifferent about it. Oh speaking of, I didn’t get a chance to tell you. Maribel came at me again during the meeting before class.”

“What? Really? Is she sixteen or some shit?” Toni demanded, and Cheryl found her angry face to be adorable.

“You would think by all this petty drama. I don’t know what her problem is. I think she’s just trying to drive me out of the Pixies. She thinks she has new ammunition against me, so she’s firing as fast as she can. But what she doesn’t realize is that I may have been holding back the fire this past year, but that doesn’t mean that it’s gone,” Cheryl stated firmly.

Toni smirked. “You might just have to show her whose boss.”

“I wish I could, honestly. I’m worried Quince, our director, would take that as me being the attacker,” Cheryl explained. “Otherwise, I totally would.”

“I could go at her on your behalf, she’d never know who I was.”

Cheryl snickered, and Toni feigned offense.

“What? Sometimes you gotta just hire some muscle to get shit done for you.”

“Are you the muscle in this scenario?” Cheryl questioned, looking over Toni’s small frame. “You’re so… tiny.”

“Excuse you! I’ve broken my fair share of noses in my life.”

Cheryl lifted an eyebrow. “I’ve never heard that sentence in my life.”

“Well, it’s true,” Toni insisted.

* * *

The ride to Cheryl’s apartment wasn’t too long, and pretty soon, they were walking up the stairs of Cheryl’s apartment building. “So I get to actually see your apartment this time,” Toni said excitedly, “last time I just got a peep at it.”

“Well, prepare to be underwhelmed. It’s literally a shoebox,” Cheryl told her with a shake of her head.

“That’s okay, I’m used to shoeboxes.” Cheryl unlocked and opened the door to her apartment, and Toni looked over it quickly. There was a door straight ahead that was open into Cheryl’s bedroom, but the main area consisted just of a small kitchen, a couch and TV, and small wooden table with two chairs. There wasn’t much decoration, which Toni could relate to, or much else of interest.

“It’s cute,” Toni said anyway, and Cheryl rolled her eyes.

“Whatever you say.”

“Hey, this is New York City, you can’t ever expect much.” Cheryl just nodded, and Toni thought back to their first date, when Cheryl had mentioned the car she had in high school. And then she looked back around at the apartment, as Cheryl started toward her bedroom, and was realizing the disconnect. Cheryl had talked about taking the subway because it was cheap, had mentioned allowing herself to splurge on bubble bath, and now Toni was seeing the small place in which she lived. She was starting to connect the dots. She thought about how expensively Cheryl always dressed, and it didn’t match up with what was here in front of her.

“You okay?” Cheryl called from her room. “You can come in here.” Toni snapped out of her thoughts and started toward Cheryl’s bedroom. As she entered, Cheryl was taking off her shoes and tossing them in her small closet. “Feel free to take off your shoes as well.” Toni did so, leaving them by the bedroom door, and dropped her small bag that she had been carrying with her. Cheryl glanced over at her with a look of confusion.

“What?”

“You got really quiet,” Cheryl commented, and Toni could hear the insecurity in her voice. It was a tone that Toni had really not heard from the redhead—she always seemed so collected and confident, even when she was quiet.

“Sorry, I was just… well, I don’t want to pry, it’s none of my business.”

Cheryl sighed. “You can ask me whatever you want, Toni.”

“I don’t want this to come off wrong, because look, I grew up dirt poor at times, and I don’t care what kind of money anyone has or where they came from. I’m just trying to figure you out, because from talking to you initially, it seemed like… I don’t know, like you had a lot of money? I’m sorry, this is totally not okay for me to be asking about, seriously, just—”

“No, really, it’s okay. I like you, Toni, and… I may not be used to talking about myself with people… but I am willing to tell you about me. You’re the first person I’ve felt like I could be open to in a long time,” Cheryl admitted, and Toni could once again hear her insecurity in her voice.

Cheryl sat down on the edge of her bed, and Toni joined her, sitting a little bit away from the girl and facing her, one leg tucked under her butt. “You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to share. Seriously, it’s none of my business at all, I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable.”

Cheryl just shook her head. “Look, Toni. I was raised by a very wealthy family. They have two houses that are more like mansions. They own about half of the land that makes up the town. There was never anything that was outside of budget, unless it was too low. Buying cheap things was like announcing that money was tight, which it never was, and they could never allow anyone to think as much. I was raised to meet a certain standard of behavior, to lead a certain life. And for the longest time, I was okay with that.

“I never had many friends, just… I had a twin brother—Jason. He… unfortunately, passed away when we were fifteen. Before then, he had been my one and only confidant. Afterwards… I was truly alone. I became even more closed off than ever, and I used lashing out at people as a self-defense mechanism—but preemptively. I was a bitch to everyone.

“My mother led me to believe that it was my fatal flaw—that I had no ability to feel any emotion other than anger, that it was my brother who had been kind and loving. I believed that for most of my life, especially after Jason died. But then I went to college, as I told you, and I started to feel… alive. I was far from my family, from the people who knew me in high school. I had a fresh start. I joined a dance group on campus, since I knew I could do it from high school, and I fell in love with it. I told my parents I wanted to become a dance major, and they told me that if I did that, they would cut me off.”

Toni was completely absorbed into the story, at this point picturing Cheryl’s parents as demons straight from hell.

“And… well, they did. I started the process to switch my major, calling their bluff, but before I could even finish, the money was gone. They cancelled my cards, booted me out of their bank account. Left me completely alone. I couldn’t afford to stay in school, so I had to leave and start working. And… I considered trying… you know, burlesque again, but I had hated it when I tried it for fun before, so I couldn’t. I was working multiple jobs until I finally got on the Pixies and was able to start teaching dance here,” Cheryl finished the story, letting out a bit sigh.

“Oh my goodness, Cheryl,” Toni said softly, scooting a little closer to the redhead and taking her hand. “That’s horrible. Your parents sound…”

“Heartless? Cruel? They are,” Cheryl swore. “I haven’t spoken to them in years. I only hear about the goings on at home from my third cousin Betty. But even talking to her… I don’t like thinking about home. It makes me feel sick to think about… everything.”

“Hey, that’s totally fair,” Toni assured her, talking softly and squeezing her hand. “And… thank you for telling me that. You didn’t have to.”

Cheryl looked straight in Toni’s eyes, and Toni could see tears welling up in her eyes little by little. “Like I said, Toni… I really like you. And I may not have a lot of experience with dating or relationships… but I know that if there’s any chance that you’d want to keep seeing me, you just have to know some things.”

Toni nodded slowly, squeezing Cheryl’s hand comfortingly. “Thank you.”

“No, thank you for listening. I don’t mean to paint myself as a victim, I—”

“You don’t need to defend anything you’ve just told me, Cheryl,” Toni interrupted her. “Okay?”

Cheryl nodded. “Okay. Thank you, Toni.”

“Of course,” Toni replied softly. “Hey, you got any wine? I feel like you could use a drink.”

“I have some, yeah,” Cheryl admitted.

Toni hopped off of the bed and scurried into Cheryl’s kitchen, opening her fridge. It was pretty meagerly stocked, similar to Toni’s, but there was one opened wine bottle in it. It was cheap stuff, which in Toni’s opinion was just as good as any really expensive alcohol. She grabbed it and found two glasses, which she filled up generously.

When she got back into Cheryl’s room, the redhead had scooted more towards the top of the bed, her legs crossed. Toni handed her a class and then sat back on the bed as well. “How about a toast?” Toni suggested.

“To what?” Cheryl asked in confusion.

“To… you feeling comfortable enough to open about your past. Or, to Monday night drinking. Take your pick?”

“How about both?” Cheryl suggested with a little chuckle, and they clinked their glasses together and took back a drink. “Okay, now that I’ve made the evening super heavy, how about we talk about something not as dramatic as our previous topic?”

“Okay… how about… ask me anything!”

Cheryl was quiet for a second, just looking at Toni and thinking. “Is your name a nickname?” Cheryl asked finally, taking another sip of her wine.

Toni feigned offense, holding her left hand to her chest as she dropped her jaw. “What would make you think that?”

“All of your friends go by the weirdest nicknames, except for you,” Cheryl accused, lifting both of her eyebrows.

“Okay, that’s a valid point. Yes, it’s a nickname. I was born Antoinette Topaz,” Toni admitted. “I never felt much like an Antoinette, though.”

“That’s a pretty name,” Cheryl said, “but you’re right, Toni is more fitting. Maybe because it’s short, like you.”

“Oh, are you roasting me now?” Toni demanded jokingly, getting a laugh from the redhead. “What about you? Nicknames?”

“There’s been so many,” Cheryl admitted. “My cousin Betty often calls me Cher. When I was in high school, I dubbed myself Cheryl Bombshell. But no one ever called me that besides myself, and a few dumb jocks, but I let that slide.”

“You gave yourself the nickname Cheryl Bombshell?” Toni asked in surprise.

“What? It’s not like it’s inaccurate.”

“Damn,” Toni said with a laugh, “it’s kind of hot when you’re a little cocky.”

Cheryl smirked. “That’s good to know.”

“Well don’t let it get to your head,” Toni teased. “Bombshell, huh? I like it.” Toni pretended like she didn’t see Cheryl’s slight blush at hearing the comment, and instead she scooted a little closer to the redhead, taking a long drink from her wine glass. “It’s fitting.”

“Mm,” Cheryl hummed. “I know.”

Toni rolled her eyes again. She took another drink of her wine, and realized that it was actually almost gone. She glanced at Cheryl’s glass. “How am I drinking so much faster than you?”

“To be completely honest, I am a slight lightweight.”

“Really?” Toni asked in surprise. “You seemed fine on Saturday.”

“I was definitely feeling it on Saturday. I’m not a very obvious drunk.”

Toni hummed thoughtfully. “That’s good to know.” She took back the last of her wine, and then reached over to set the glass down on Cheryl’s nightstand. Cheryl took one more sip of hers—which was still about half full—and then set it down as well.

“I teach a class in the mornings,” Cheryl justified.

“Hey, I’m not trying to peer pressure you into drinking more, I swear,” Toni assured her with a chuckle. Toni inched closer to Cheryl. “It’s kind of cute that you’re a lightweight.”

“Cute?” Cheryl asked, looking offended at the word. “What about it is cute?”

“Just, you’re so stone cold all the time, so it’s just surprising that you get drunk easily, I don’t know,” Toni said. “You’re also just cute.”

“I don’t think anyone has described me as cute before,” Cheryl admitted, sounding doubtful and lifting one of her perfect red eyebrows. Despite her apparent distaste for the compliment, she leaned a bit closer to the pink haired girl. “I’m not sure how I feel about this.”

Toni chuckled, and she finally began to close the distance between them. “Well tell me how you feel about it when you figure it out,” she murmured, then eliminating the remaining space between their lips. She kissed Cheryl slowly for a moment, and then those perfectly plump lips began kissing her back with more intensity. Toni brought a hand up to Cheryl’s face, cupping her cheek and pulling her bottom lip into her mouth greedily. Cheryl hummed into the kiss her hand landing on Toni’s waist.

Toni twisted a little to be more directly facing Cheryl, and the more she got lost in the movements of their lips and tongues, the less control of herself she had. And then suddenly, Cheryl was laying back against her pillows, and then two soft, pale hands were on her waist, underneath her tank top, pulling her directly on top of the other girl.

Toni straddled Cheryl, one hand tangling into long, red locks as the other kept herself from collapsing on top of her. She felt heat pooling in between her legs, and she let out a quiet moan as she pulled her lips off of Cheryl’s, taking in a breath. Her dark eyes met Cheryl’s eyes, which were possibly even darker than her own—especially in this moment.

“God,” Toni groaned, “you’re so gorgeous, Cheryl.”

Cheryl’s face was flushed red, and Toni bit down on her lower lip. She said nothing, her eyes just searching Toni’s, and then she reached up for Toni’s face and pulled her right back down against her lips.

They laid like that, making out, for quite a while. Eventually, Toni laid down next to Cheryl rather than being on top of her, and Cheryl dared to take a bit more control. Toni knew this was new for the redhead—being with a woman—but it was good to know that Cheryl was willing to try controlling things. And Toni actually found it to be really fucking hot.

Whenever they did pull apart to catch their breath for longer than handful of seconds, Toni was sure that her underwear was soaked. She poked her foot at Cheryl’s on top of the covers, smiling at the redhead as she propped her head up on her hand.

“What?” Cheryl wondered.

“Oh nothing,” Toni teased. “You’re just… unlike anyone I’ve ever known before.”

Cheryl began to toy with Toni’s pink hair, twisting it around those long, pale fingers. “You are too,” Cheryl admitted softly. “Honestly… Toni… I’ve never met anyone who made me feel the way that you make me feel.”

Toni smiled softly, leaning down to place another kiss, this one soft and gentle, on those beautiful, slightly swollen lips. When she pulled away, she let out a sigh. “You have to teach a class in the morning.”

“You have to work in the morning,” Cheryl said in return.

“That sucks. Why is it Monday? I’d really like to keep kissing you all night.”

Cheryl blushed again, and Toni was starting to love seeing those pale cheeks turn a deep red. “That would be nice.”

Toni sighed, looking at the beautiful girl laying next to her. “I guess maybe I should go.”

“Maybe,” Cheryl agreed, but Toni could tell that she didn’t really want to agree.

“Am I going to get to see you again before next Monday?”

“We don’t have class next Monday,” Cheryl said, “it’s Thanksgiving week.”

“Oh, yeah, that’s right.”

“Oh no,” Cheryl said, eyes widening, “did I forget to remind everyone of that in class today?”

“You definitely did,” Toni confirmed with a nod. “I guess you were distracted…”

“Oh shut up,” Cheryl tutted. She began to sit up, so Toni followed her movements and did so too. “I’ll just have to send an email or something. It’s fine. Hopefully everyone will just remember.”

“Anyway,” Toni said, drawing Cheryl’s gaze again, “you never answered my question—which still holds whether or not we have class next week…”

Cheryl lifted her right hand and ran in through Toni’s hair, her expression softening again. “You know that I always want to see you, Toni.”

Toni grinned. “So maybe I’ll get lucky this weekend, and you’ll be free to hang out?” Whether or not Cheryl noticed the double entendre of the question was unknown to Toni, but the redhead promised that she would. And then they got out of bed, Toni got her shoes back on, and Cheryl walked her out. They shared one more long, drawn out goodbye kiss, and then Toni left.

And the whole way home, she couldn’t wipe her grin off of her face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone asked why I don't just update two chapters to make up for being late--the problem is, I post sneak peeks and early updates (find out how to get them by going to my Twitter account @BrittzandTana and clicking the link in my Bio), so I can't post an update until I've posted those two things first. I may plan to double update sometime this week or next week to makeup for being late, we'll see. Tonight, I have barely any time because I need to be up early tomorrow, so just this chapter for now!  
> I'm so glad that so many of you are enjoying this story! Thank you all SO MUCH for your support, I appreciate it so much! I will see you all with Chapter 10 on TUESDAY, I SWEAR! xx


	10. The First

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanksgiving plans are being made, and Toni buys Cheryl a late night dinner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey friends, happy New Year! It's 11:35PM for me right now, super excited for the start of 2020, and I guess I'm starting it right with this update haha.  
> I gotta admit, I don't have much to say in tonight's note lol, so I'll just keep it short and simple! Remember you can follow me on Twitter @BrittzandTana to keep up with me and my fanfic, and I appreciate all of you for being here to read and support me!  
> Enjoy the new update! xx

**Toni – Hey btw, don’t forget we don’t have dance next week**

**Ronnie – Oh shit, yeah next week is Thanksgiving, isn’t it? How does time fly?**

**Toni – No idea. But to be fair, it’s not like either of us ever do anything big for Thanksgiving. Are we doing Friendsgiving again?**

**Ronnie – Yeah, probably. Well, I was going to ask Sweet Pea if he wants to help me host it… do you think he’ll think that’s weird?**

**Toni – I mean maybe, but he already knows you’re weird so**

**Ronnie – Oh shut up, T! I’m serious!**

**Toni – I’m sure he’ll be down. He liked Friendsgiving last year, and it’s obvious he likes you, so I’m sure the combination will greatly excite him. If he doesn’t seem excited, I’m sure a sexual innuendo would help.**

**Ronnie – You are so not helpful.**

**Ronnie – I’m going to tell Fangs he can invite Kevin. And anyone can bring any friends, too. I think Sweet Pea’s friend he met at one of his jobs (literally can’t remember which or when it was) Jughead? I think Sweets will want to invite him.**

**Ronnie – Oh, also you can invite Cheryl… if that’s like at all where you guys are at, no pressure of course.**

**Ronnie – Speaking of, didn’t you say you hung out with her Monday night?? Girl dish!**

**Toni – Oh my god, spam much?! I can’t dish about every time I hang out with Cheryl, that’s dumb.**

**Ronnie – Okay. Don’t then. I don’t care anyway. >_>**

**Ronnie – WAIT NO OKAY I’M SORRY I’M JUST INVESTED IN YOUR HAPPINESS OK?**

**Toni – Hahaha aww Ronnie! <3**

**Ronnie – ):**

**Toni – It was a good night, we had some wine and talked about things and made out some. That was it, but it was really good. Also, I’ll ask her about Friendsgiving if I think she might be interested, I don’t wanna scare her off, though.**

**Ronnie – Okay! And thanks for letting me know about class next week, I totally forgot.**

**Toni – No problem, see you at work tomorrow!**

**Ronnie – Wait, wait!**

**Ronnie – Tomorrow night, Sweets and I are doing a Friday movie night at his and Fangs place. Fangs and Kevin are probably going to be there. You wanna join?**

**Toni – Uh fifth wheeling doesn’t really sound super fun to me right now, but we’ll see lol.**

**Ronnie – You should come!**

**Toni – Goodnight, V!**

**Ronnie – Ugh, goodnight, T.**

* * *

**Cousin Betty – Hey, Cheryl! Happy Friday! I was wondering if you were coming back to Riverdale for Thanksgiving next week?**

**Cheryl – I was not planning on it, no.**

**Cousin Betty – I know you don’t want to see your parents. But my mom would gladly host you. None of us want you to have to be alone on Thanksgiving.**

Cheryl read that message multiple times. It was Friday around lunch time, and the studio was pretty much empty, seeing as most people were out at lunch. Cheryl had brought a meager sandwich for her lunch, so she was currently sitting in the corner of her favorite studio room, a half-eaten sandwich on her lap and her eyes on the text her cousin had just sent her. The two previous texts had been from earlier in the morning, so she could get away with not responding to this one right away.

Cheryl really had no desire to go home for the holiday, even if she did get most of the week off. She had no desire to see any of her family, and she knew that somehow, her mother would make sure that she saw her if she came home. That had somehow happened the last time Cheryl had made the mistake of going home for a holiday.  _ Somehow _ , her mother had figured out that she would be there, and manage to ruin the whole thing.

Cheryl was used to being alone for holidays—and even as a kid, she often felt like it had just been her and her brother at holidays. Or, at least, she’d always wished that it could be. Even still, though, she hated the idea of being alone for any holiday. While everyone else got to spend time with their families, who loved and cared for them, she would be alone, being grateful that she was away from her own terrible family, and simultaneously feeling the most alone she had in a while.

So part of her wanted to accept Betty’s invitation. She knew the blonde would be willing to drive into the city to come get her and to bring her back. Betty was always willing to do that sort of thing. But that said, Betty was known to extend pity invitations, and this was clearly that. She probably remembered that Cheryl had ended things with another guy the last time they’d seen each other, and she felt bad for her. And Cheryl hated that just as much as being alone. She hated being pitied.

**Cheryl – Although I am still leaning towards no, I will think about it.**

**Cousin Betty – Okay, cool :) Miss you Cher!**

Cheryl didn’t reply to that, finishing her lunch instead.

Fridays were always long days at the DHS. Instructors didn’t have to work all day, but of course, they got paid for however long they were there, so Cheryl tended to stay there as long as she could. If there was no one from any of her classes there to practice, she would rehearse for the Pixies, or work on her class dances anyway. It was a whole day to spend dancing, in some way shape or form, and so if she could get paid for being there a ridiculous number of hours, she would do it.

The worst part about Fridays, though, was slowly becoming the fact that she couldn’t text Toni at all during it. Sure, she could go check her phone every now and then, but she was beginning to realize that she didn’t have the willpower to just send a text and not think about the response. She would have to be checking her phone every few minutes to be satisfied, and she couldn’t be doing that while at work.

So she usually didn’t even know what Toni would be doing after she got off, although if the past was any indication, she was probably hanging out with her friends out at a bar or something.

They’d been texting all week, and had planned to hang out Saturday after Cheryl’s Pixies practice, so even if Cheryl couldn’t text Toni at all Friday, at least she knew that she would have all of Saturday evening to spend with the tiny, pink haired beauty who had been capturing all of her attention lately.

As soon as she was wrapping up at the DHS, she grabbed her phone to text Toni in the hopes that she was not too occupied with her friends.

**Cheryl – Finally leaving DHS! I am completely ready for the weekend.**

Toni replied almost instantly, bringing a smile to Cheryl’s face as she grabbed her bag and started to leave the studio.

**Toni – Yay! And I feel that 100%**

**Cheryl – What have you been up to?**

**Toni – I just picked up a late, late dinner.**

**Cheryl – Oh, why so late?**

A text bubble appeared, indicating that Toni was typing, but then it disappeared, and Cheryl furrowed her eyebrows. She resolved herself to checking in a moment, slipped the phone into her coat pocket, and exited the building.

And there, to her surprise, was Toni, leaning against the brick wall of the building, a paper bag in her hand, wearing black skinny jeans and her zipped up leather jacket, a pink flannel poking out the bottom of it. Standing there so casually, a smirk appearing on her face as she noted Cheryl’s surprise.

“Hey,” Toni called. “Hungry?”

“Ravenous,” Cheryl admitted.

A little while later found them at Cheryl’s apartment, sitting on the worn couch that sat in her living room, and eating the burritos that Toni had picked up. Toni had preemptively apologized in case she’d gotten Cheryl something she didn’t like, but Cheryl assured her that what she’d gotten was fine. Honestly, the redhead was just shocked that Toni had even gotten her dinner. It was so thoughtful, and she couldn’t recall a time when any man she’d dated had thought to bring her dinner after a long day at the studio.

“When’s the last time you ate?” Toni wondered, as Cheryl dug into the burrito.

Cheryl chewed and swallowed before answering, “Lunch? I had a sandwich. Hannah brought me coffee sometime in the late afternoon.”

Toni frowned, but said nothing as they continued to eat. Cheryl knew that she should’ve brought more food for lunch, but if she was being honest, Thanksgiving was going to be a week of budgeting. Most classes didn’t occur during Thanksgiving break, because usually the attendance rate would be half or less, and it was right around the time that practice became more necessary, because they would be getting into the final version of the dance for the winter performance. Therefore, Cheryl had the week off. Which was great, except when money was taken into account.

They ate in silence, mostly just because they were both hungry and didn’t pause much to talk in between. When they were both finished with their food, Cheryl got up and threw away the trash, and then came back to sit next to Toni on the couch again. “Thank you for getting dinner for me.”

“Of course,” Toni said with a smile. “You always have like, the longest Fridays ever. I figured it was the least I could do.”

Cheryl smiled softly. “Yeah, Fridays are definitely very busy. I basically don’t stop dancing except like four times all day. My feet never thank me for Fridays. That’s why bubble baths are always calling my name.”

“Oh shit, did you want to take one tonight? I can go if—”

“It’s okay, Toni,” Cheryl interrupted. “I’d rather you stay.” Toni smiled, and it made Cheryl’s heart skip a beat. “But, regardless, I should shower at the very least. Would you mind?”

“No, not at all. I can just chill out here, or whatever,” Toni answered.

“You can come sit on the bed if you want to, it’s more comfortable,” Cheryl insisted, as she stood up and started toward her room.

Toni followed suit, slipping off her shoes and climbing on top of Cheryl’s bed as the redhead went over to her closet and selected a pair of leggings and a tank top. It wasn’t what she would usually change into following a shower at night, but she would feel weird changing into pajamas while Toni was here in normal clothes.

“I won’t take long,” Cheryl promised, and then she slipped into her bathroom.

She didn’t either, she showered as fast as she could. Especially once she realized that the thought that she was naked, and Toni was roughly ten feet away in her bed, was making her horny. She hurried through washing her hair and scrubbing her skin clean. She wasn’t in the shower for more than ten minutes, and then she quickly dried off, dressed herself, and exited back into her room, drying her hair as thoroughly as she could.

Toni was lounging on her bed, holding her phone in front of her, but dark eyes hopped up to look at her as soon as Cheryl opened the door. “Hey,” Toni said with a smile, which Cheryl returned.

“I hope I wasn’t too long.”

“You really weren’t,” Toni promised, and Cheryl went over to her nightstand to grab the hair ties she would put her hair up into a bun with. Toni watched as Cheryl twisted her long locks of hair into a bun on the top of her head, holding it in place with a hair tie. “Your hair is gorgeous.”

Cheryl smiled. “Thank you.” She stepped back into the bathroom for a moment to hang up her towel, and then she came back over to the bed, where Toni was now sitting up, her phone face down on the nightstand. “So what are your friends up to tonight that was somehow less boring than bringing me dinner so late?”

“Well first of all, this is  _ not _ boring,” Toni insisted. “Second of all, they’re having a movie night. Ronnie and Sweet Pea, and Fangs and Kevin. And I was invited, but I wasn’t really in the mood to fifth wheel. But either way, I wanted to bring you food. I wanted to see you.”

Cheryl felt heat rising to her cheeks at the statement. Even though she already knew it to be true, hearing Toni say it made her heart skip a beat. She sat down on the bed, scooting so that she was next to Toni. “I’m glad that you did.”

Toni smirked. “I know you love hanging out with me.”

Cheryl feigned offense and responded with, “Don’t flatter yourself, Topaz.”

“You saying I’m not good company?” Toni lifted an eyebrow challengingly.

“You are completely  _ fine _ company.”

“Oh yeah, I’m sure that I’m  _ just _ fine…”

Cheryl rolled her eyes, and the pink haired girl let out a chuckle. “Fine,” Cheryl gave in, “you are very great company. Happy?”

“Yes,” Toni answered, grinning and flopping back down onto Cheryl’s pillows. “I feel conflicted, though. I love it when you call me Toni, but it was kind of hot hearing you call me Topaz?”

Cheryl blushed, but she ignored the feeling of heat in her cheeks and just asked, “Oh yeah?” Toni nodded. Cheryl thought for a moment before saying, “Your name is cute, it has a nice ring to it.  _ Toni Topaz _ . TT.”

“Yep, those are my initials,” Toni agreed with a laugh.

“It’s cute,” Cheryl said thoughtfully. “TT.” She liked the way it sounded, and as she said it, looking down at the small woman laying out on her bed, she found it rather fitting. “Even shorter than Toni—therefore a great match for you.”

“Again with the short jokes? Damn,  _ Bombshell _ , you’re harsh,” Toni said back. Cheryl lifted an eyebrow. “What? If you’re going to go making new nicknames for me to match how tiny I am, I’m at least going to use the nickname that  _ you _ gave  _ yourself _ .”

Cheryl bit the inside of her lower lip to keep a grin from splitting across her face. How was this woman so adorable? Cheryl scooted slightly closer to Toni, close enough so that she could lean down and press her lips to Toni’s soft ones. Every time she kissed her, Cheryl felt her body somehow warm up and soften. She felt like she became a pile of mush that would do anything to keep her lips on Toni’s.

Now, though, she felt a different kind of heat. She didn’t feel as soft, knowing that Toni was lying below her and thinking of how horny she’d been the past week. She’d been resisting touching herself, for what reason she wasn’t quite sure of.

Despite not having a lot of experience with being dominant in any sexual situation—because her lack of interest in her previous sexual partners had never brought it out in her, she supposed—she felt her instincts taking over as she shifted to be straddling Toni. The girl below her let out a little sound of surprise, but Cheryl knew it was a good one, because hands were suddenly on her waist, keeping her where she was as the kiss between them grew more aggressive. She felt Toni’s hands sliding slowly from her waist down to her ass, squeezing and eliciting a moan from Cheryl.

Cheryl found herself grinding down against Toni’s hips, trying to give herself some form of relief, and Toni started making little noises of desire that were turning Cheryl on even more. Toni’s hands moved from Cheryl’s ass up her sides, to Cheryl’s face, then to where Cheryl’s hair would’ve been if it wasn’t tied up in a bun.

Before Cheryl could even realize, her damp hair fell from its bun, hanging freely around their faces. Cheryl pulled her lips away from Toni’s, laughing. “Oh shit,” Toni said, “I forgot that it was wet.”

“You forgot? You couldn’t  _ feel _ it?” Cheryl asked, lifting her eyebrows as she sat up, swooping her hair to one side. “Where did my hair tie go?”

Toni bit down on her lower lip. “Why do you  _ need _ it?”

“My hair will get the whole bed damp if I don’t put it up.” Cheryl glanced around the girl beneath her, trying to find where it went.

Toni’s eyes darkened a little. “What if the bed gets wet anyway?”

Cheryl’s eyebrows shot up at the forwardness of the question, and then suddenly, Toni was sitting up, her hands tucking themselves under Cheryl’s thighs, and she effectively flipped them over. Cheryl flopped down into the pillows with a squeal of surprise, her damp hair splaying all around her. “Toni!” she exclaimed. She looked up at the pink haired girl who now straddled her, honestly surprised at how easily she’d managed to do that.

Toni just lowered herself down to bring her lips together with Cheryl’s again, and Cheryl gave in, letting the girl above her kiss away any thoughts of her damp hair. Even when one of Toni’s hands began tangling itself into it, she couldn’t bring herself to care. Having Toni on top of her was definitely worth it.

Plus… she was maybe realizing that she liked it when Toni pulled her hair.

Things seemed to be escalating quickly as Cheryl’s hands dared to find Toni’s waist, her ass, her boobs. Even if it was through clothing, Cheryl had never felt another woman’s body so intimately before, never appreciated the smooth curves and the soft angles or the general softness and warmth. And lying here underneath Toni, she was reveling in her new discoveries.

It was when Toni’s hands began to creep beneath Cheryl’s tank top that the pink haired girl separated their lips and sat up, still straddling Cheryl. Cheryl looked up at her quizzically, because she could tell that Toni was conflicted about something. “I know…” Toni trailed off.

“What is it, Toni?”

“I know that you’ve never been with a woman before.” Cheryl nodded, starting to worry that this was somehow now going to become an issue. “So you’ve obviously never had sex with a woman.”

“Yes,” Cheryl confirmed, confused now and really hoping this wasn’t going anywhere too difficult to navigate.

“So, if this is too new or too fast or anything…” Toni drifted off, and now Cheryl realized that Toni was not upset that Cheryl had never been with women, but rather concerned that Cheryl would be anxious about  _ being _ with a woman for the first time.

Which Cheryl was not. Sex had only ever scared her the very first time that she’d had it, and only because her parents had refused to give her any insight on sexuality or sexual relationships in any way at all. She’d been nervous and worried about her first time, even if she hadn’t shown it. But since then, she had never felt much anxiety about any of the sexual encounters she’d had.

Of course, now that Toni was bringing it up, she let her mind wonder for a moment—should she be nervous about it? Should she take it slowly?

But then she instantly decided that she really didn’t care, she was horny, and sex solved that, and Toni was here—beautiful and thoughtful and so ready to relieve her. Sure, Cheryl didn’t really know what lesbian sex would entirely entail, but she was sure that she would get the hang out of it, and she wasn’t scared to try it Maybe she was a little nervous about pleasing Toni for the first time, but other than that… there wasn’t really any fear there.

“It’s not,” Cheryl finally voiced.

“Are you sure? Because I know it’s different…”

“Toni,” Cheryl said gently, “I’m not nervous about sex. I’m not the kind of person who really gets nervous about sex. Of course, I have never done this before, but the only thing I might be nervous about in this situation is about making sure that I can… please you. But I am not scared. And I want this. Very badly.”

Toni smiled. “Okay. And I have no doubt that you’ll be a natural at ‘pleasing me.’ Plus, I’ll gladly show you the ropes.”

Those were the last words spoken as Toni leaned down to seal their lips again. It only took a minute or so for them to return to the level of intensity they’d been at before Toni had sat up, and then Cheryl felt Toni’s hands sliding underneath her top. Cheryl brought her own hands to it, and began pulling it off of herself. Toni broke their kiss to look down at Cheryl’s exposed black bra and bare stomach.

Toni moaned, lowering herself and extending her legs so that she could press her lips and tongue against Cheryl’s pale abdomen. Cheryl inhaled sharply as her abs tensed a little at the contact. Toni’s hands gripped her hips as she began to kiss around the edges of Cheryl’s bra. Cheryl let out a little moan, and heard herself request, “Take it off,” in a breathy voice. Toni obeyed, reaching around Cheryl to unclasp her bra and pull it off of the redhead. Straddling Cheryl again, Toni’s hands met Cheryl’s boobs, squeezing gently, and Cheryl sighed at the contact.

As darker skinned hands explored Cheryl’s expose upper half, pale hands began trying to tug away Toni’s clothes. Piece by piece, they tore away each other’s clothes, until they were both wearing nothing, at which point, Toni straddling Cheryl’s naked body, her eyes soaking in every inch of her.

Cheryl felt heat rising to her face.  _ No one _ had  _ ever _ looked at her the way Toni was now. In such awe and appreciation, with such desire and yet respect. “You are  _ so _ fucking sexy,” Toni said, although the statement itself almost sounded like a moan.

The moment only lasted a handful of seconds, but Cheryl held onto it, unable to stop picturing the look in Toni’s eyes, and hoping that she could see it again.

It was briefly lost in her thoughts, though, as Toni fingers carefully found their way between Cheryl’s legs. They were met with wetness, and the pink haired girl moaned instantly. “Is this okay?” Toni asked.

“God, yes, Toni,” Cheryl moaned.

Toni’s fingers in between her thighs felt absolutely heavenly, but even besides that, something about the entire experience was so different than anything she’d yet experienced. Toni would keep checking in as she tried different things: “Does this feel good,” “Is that alright?” And somehow, it didn’t take away from it at all, because by the time Toni stopped asking, she seemed to know exactly how to take care of Cheryl.

And take care of her she did. As she’d been exploring, Toni had successfully worked Cheryl up, and as the redhead began to plead more, Toni began to pulse in and out of her faster, her thumb on her clit, and Cheryl came almost instantly, crying out in pleasure.

But it didn’t stop there, because Toni didn’t let up, and in a matter of seconds, Cheryl had overcome her first orgasm and was beginning to climb to her second. She clung to Toni, whose lips were sucking gently on the pale skin of Cheryl’s neck, as the woman continued to do her magic.

When Cheryl came again, she swore it was the most intense orgasm that she had ever felt. It shook through her body with such intensity that she couldn’t even remember what sounds came out of her as she came—she was pretty sure that it must’ve been some series of expletives, though.

As she came down from her climax, her body relaxing into her bed, Toni’s fingers began to slow. “Oh my god,” Cheryl gasped out.

“That was  _ so _ hot,” Toni murmured. “God, Cheryl. You’re gorgeous.”

“Thank you,” Cheryl replied, feeling mostly spent. Toni gently pulled out of the redhead, wiping her fingers on the sheet. She laid down next to Cheryl, propping her head on her hand so that she could look down at the redhead.

“You okay?”

“More than okay,” Cheryl promised. “No one has ever been able to make me come that hard.”

Toni grinned. “Well, happy to know that I was successful.” She let out a little laugh. “You’re so hot when you come, Cheryl.  _ God _ … you got me  _ really _ fucking wet.”

Cheryl gathered what energy she had left and propped herself up on one arm to meet Toni’s height. “I want to take care of you, too.”

“I’d love that,” Toni said with another grin.

“You might… just have to make sure I’m doing a good job.”

“I will.”

And she did—she talked Cheryl through the beginning part of all of it, explaining what she liked. And once Cheryl knew what to do to make Toni moan, you can be damn sure that she did it. Watching the pink haired girl moan beneath her, her fingers digging into Cheryl’s soft skin, was intoxicating. And when Toni finally came, and collapsed onto Cheryl’s bed, the redhead felt honestly stunned at the beauty of the amazing woman who laid before her.

And when she cuddled into Toni a few minutes later, after they both readied themselves for bed, letting herself be fully vulnerable in this moment as Toni wrapped her small but strong arms around her, she had never felt so peaceful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oooh yay for Choni finally getting together :D  
> I hope you all have a wonderful start to 2020! I'm spending the start of the new year and new decade at my girlfriend's parents' house. We didn't do much for NYE today, but we had a very full weekend of celebrating from Christmas, so chilling and watching a movie and having some margaritas is just what I needed haha.  
> Thank you all for taking the time to read this update <3 I hope you all have a lovely week, and I will see you all with the new update on Thursday! xx


	11. The Pixies Drama

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the morning after, Cheryl has some more drama with her fellow Pixies, and Choni's relationship is getting stronger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey friends! Sorry this update is running a little late! I'm sure I'll be better at remembering to update once I'm back in school. I don't know if I'll have much of this story left to update once classes start again, but I'm really trying to have my other Choni story done by the end of winter break, and once it's done, it'll start going up as well!  
> Thank you all for the awesome comments on the last chapter!! I'm so glad you guys enjoyed it! I really appreciate the feedback and the kudos <3 Remember you can follow me on Twitter @BrittzandTana to keep up with this story and everything else in my life :D  
> I hope you all enjoy this chapter too! xx

Toni’s eyes flickered opened, and she knew immediately that she was not in her apartment. The sheets felt different, the wall she was looking at was different, even the smell was not what she was used to. No, instead, she smelled mostly sex, and a smell that she could identify as nothing besides just  _ Cheryl _ .

Quietly rolling over, Toni realized that Cheryl was facing her—she must have ended up nearly spooning Toni the night before. Trying not to wake her up, Toni slipped her arm over the redhead, and let her eyes flutter back closed.

When they opened again, it was because she’d felt movement, and the brightness of the room indicated that it must have been at least an hour since she’d awoken before. This time, Cheryl was awake, laying there in front of her with her brown eyes open and observing the pink haired girl.

“Good morning,” Toni murmured softly.

“Good morning,” Cheryl replied. Toni yawned, turning away from Cheryl a little as she stretched her back. When she collapsed back into the pillows, Cheryl chuckled. “I’m sorry I woke you. I was just going to check the time.”

“It’s okay,” Toni assured her. “I woke up a little while ago, I was just sleeping pretty lightly.”

Cheryl smiled softly, then pulling away a little to twist and reach for her phone on the nightstand. “It’s nine.”

“Oh so still early, cool,” Toni mumbled, wrapping her arms around Cheryl and closing her eyes again.

Cheryl chuckled. “No, Toni, not early. I have to leave for the DHS a little after ten—I have practice at eleven, remember?”

“So? You have over an hour to get ready,” Toni muttered.

Cheryl let out a breath. “Toni,” she whispered sweetly, “I need to get up.” Toni groaned, giving in an releasing Cheryl, who began to climb out of bed. Toni’s eyes immediately went to her naked body, and she bit down on her lower lip. Cheryl didn’t notice. “You should probably get up too, you know?”

“Yeah, I’m doing it,” Toni huffed out, forcing her attention away from Cheryl’s body and pulling herself up into a seated position. “How are you so awake?”

“I’m used to waking up early on Saturdays.”

“It’s still weird.” Toni stood up and began pulling on her clothes from the night before. Cheryl disappeared into the bathroom, and after the toilet flushed and the water ran off and on for a few minutes, Cheryl emerged.

“Feel free to use it,” she offered.

Toni went to the bathroom and rinsed her mouth out, using some of Cheryl’s toothpaste on her finger to make it feel a bit more clean. Then she washed her face with just water and patted it dry, and lastly, she borrowed the nice looking, red brush that sat on Cheryl’s counter, running it through her pink hair until it was a bit smoother.

When she exited the bathroom, Cheryl had dressed herself in a pair of red leggings, with a loose white shirt that was thin enough for someone to spot the red sports bra Cheryl wore under it. “That’s a cute outfit,” Toni commented, drawing Cheryl’s attention.

“Oh, thank you,” Cheryl said with a smile. “I haven’t worn it in a while, sometimes I get stuck in a habit of wearing just black.”

“Red is a lot more  _ you _ than black.”

Cheryl smirked a little. “Tell me something I don’t know, TT.”

Hearing the nickname surprised Toni, and somehow brought a blush to her cheeks. Cheryl moved past her and entered the bathroom again, grabbing a little plastic bin of makeup materials and opening it up. “I can’t believe,” Toni started, “that there’s no class next week. How am I going to survive not watching you dance for a whole week?”

“Oh, is that all you do while you’re in class?” Cheryl asked, feigning judgment as she began to do her makeup. “You do know that we are about to start having practice two times a week after this break, correct?”

“Actually, I totally forgot. When is the second practice?”

“I believe I announced it a couple of classes ago, in the middle of it? I think it’s Saturdays at two—which is both convenient for me and also annoying,” Cheryl admitted.

“You won’t have time for lunch or anything, huh?”

“No, but it will be just fine,” Cheryl insisted. “Obviously, I’ve gone longer dancing without eating than four hours.”

Toni nodded slowly, leaning against the bathroom door frame. Suddenly, she remembered that she wanted to bring something up to Cheryl, but she’d forgotten the previous night, because her attention had quickly been drawn to  _ other _ things. She wondered whether she should bring it up, but eventually she decided to do it. “So, what are your Thanksgiving plans?”

Cheryl froze for a moment, her eyeliner pen in her hand about an inch away from her eye, and Toni bit down on her tongue. After a moment, Cheryl returned to her task, looking like she was trying to seem unfazed. “I haven’t decided,” Cheryl admitted. “My cousin Betty has invited me to her family’s Thanksgiving in Riverdale, but…”

She trailed off, and Toni immediately knew what went after the ‘but.’ “But, you don’t want to chance seeing your parents?” Cheryl turned away from the mirror, looking at Toni and nodding solemnly.

“I pride myself on being brave and outspoken, TT, but… the situation between me and my mother is a whole different battlefield,” Cheryl said sadly. “I have never been brave enough to stand up to her.”

“You entirely quit school against her judgment,” Toni pointed out, “that sure sounds like standing up to her to me.”

Cheryl sighed. “I suppose that’s true. Well. I don’t want to see them this week.”

“I’m saying you should have to. So you said you haven’t decided… what’s the other choice?”

“Stay home alone,” Cheryl answered flatly, bringing her attention back to her makeup.

“Could I offer you a third option?” Toni asked carefully. Cheryl looked at her curiously and then nodded. “Veronica is hosting a Friendsgiving. She said you can join us if you want to.” Cheryl’s movements of doing her makeup slowed, so Toni could tell that she was thinking. “It’ll most likely just be Veronica, Sweet Pea, his friend Jughead, Fangs, and probably, um, Kevin. So, I understand if you don’t want to, but… I’ll be there, and you’re completely welcome. I don’t want you to have to be alone on Thanksgiving, and… I’d like you to be there—but only if you’d be comfortable.”

Cheryl maintained her attention on her makeup for a few moments, and then when she finished what she was doing, she faced Toni. “I… might like that.”

“You don’t have to decide now. Hell, you can decide whenever. But it’s open… okay?”

Cheryl nodded. “I’ll let you know.” Toni nodded in return. “Now, I just need to put on lipstick, and then I can make us some breakfast.”

“Oh, you don’t need to make me anything,” Toni insisted, but Cheryl gave her a side-eye.

“Toni, you bought me dinner last night, I will make you breakfast this morning.” Toni felt a smile come to her lips as she watched Cheryl put on two coats of a bright red lipstick.

“Alright, well I won’t complain then.”

* * *

As Cheryl began scrambling a few eggs and toasted some bread for breakfast, it fully hit her that this was pretty much the first time where she’d had someone stay the night who she hadn’t immediately asked to leave in the morning. And it had felt so natural to get up and talk to Toni as they both got ready. There had been no moments of awkwardness, and it took a while for Cheryl to even realize that this was something  _ new _ .

When she served a plate of eggs and toast to Toni, she said, “So, I know we weren’t really planning on you staying the night last night. But, are we still going to hang out after my practice?”

Toni lifted an eyebrow. “Well, that was my plan still, if it’s still yours?” Cheryl simply nodded, feeling a warmth grow in her chest. She was starting to realize just how attached to Toni she was becoming, and somehow, it wasn’t even bothering her.

A little bit after ten, they left Cheryl’s apartment and headed down to the street. “I can buy you a cab to DHS if you want?” Toni offered, but Cheryl shook her head.

“It’s okay, I don’t mind taking the subway, really,” she said. It wasn’t entirely true, she’d definitely prefer a cab, but she also didn’t want Toni to pay for another cab for her.

“Okay,” Toni said with a soft smile. “Well, I’ll see you later. Let me know after you get back when you want to meet up and where… and we’ll do it.”

Cheryl nodded, and then Toni placed a soft, gentle kiss on her lips, before stepping away from the redhead. “Bye, Toni,” Cheryl said, and Toni gave her a smile, and then they parted ways.

The walk and subway trip actually wasn’t too bad, mostly because Cheryl felt like she was lost in her thoughts the whole way to the DHS. She was trying to decide if she should go to Veronica’s Friendsgiving, or if she should go to Betty’s family’s, or if she should just abstain from both options. There were definitely more cons than pros for going to Betty’s, so she had pretty much decided against that.

Then there was Veronica’s, and the pros were quite plentiful: she wouldn’t be alone, she would get to spend the evening with Toni, and she would get to know Toni’s friends.

However, there were cons, too, the main one being that Kevin would be there, and by the way Toni had said that earlier, Cheryl was pretty sure he was the one who’d spread rumors about her to Toni. The other con was just that Cheryl didn’t really know any of the other people there, and that it could be awkward. Plus, Veronica and Kevin were both in her class.

But then again, so was Toni.

So she was leaning toward telling Toni that she would be okay with going to Veronica’s Friendsgiving, but she was still a bit too nervous about it to tell the pink haired girl for sure. And that she was so nervous was pretty strange, considering how confidently she usually went into things.

By the time she reached the studio, she had come to the conclusion that she was nervous because it was  _ Toni’s _ friends, and Cheryl was worried that she wouldn’t fit in with them. Or that they wouldn’t like her. Or  _ anything _ that could jeopardize her relationship with Toni.

When she did reach the studio, she was the second one there—Hannah was already in the room, practicing one of the sequences for the Pixies’ dance. “Hello,” Cheryl said as she walked in, to announce her presence, and Hannah stopped dancing, turning to look at Cheryl.

“Good morning,” Hannah replied with a smile. “How’re you doing after yesterday? It was a long day.”

“Yeah, it was,” Cheryl agreed. “I’m doing quite well, actually.”

“Yeah, you have a little bit of a glow about you,” Hannah admitted. “Good night?” The blonde smirked, and Cheryl realized the implication of the question. She felt her cheeks warm.

“It was good,” she murmured in response, and Hannah laughed.

“That’s good. So who’s this person who’s allowed everyone to start seeing a happier Cheryl?” Hannah wondered with a soft smile. Cheryl noted the use of the word  _ person _ rather than a gender, and although that made her happy, Cheryl was realizing that she had no problem admitting that she was dating a girl.

“Her name is Toni,” Cheryl admitted, deciding to refrain from mentioning that she was in one of her dance classes.

“It’s still pretty new with her?”

Cheryl thought back to exactly how long they’d been seeing each other—a couple of weeks? Things had picked up pace immensely after the previous weekend. “Yeah it’s still pretty new.”

“So you haven’t gotten to the girlfriend talk?” Hannah asked curiously, and Cheryl shook her head.

Before she could say anything else, she heard Therese’s voice behind her, “So, Cheryl Blossom finally admits that she’s into chicks.” Cheryl turned around, narrowing her eyes at the other girl.

“Oh I’m sorry, did you want a formal announcement?” Cheryl demanded. “You’ve been avoiding direct contact with me for weeks, Therese, can we go back to that?”

“Well something changed—you fucked with Maribel, and she’s my best friend,” Therese spat.

“Maribel?” Cheryl questioned. “What in God’s name are you even talking about?”

“She told me how you called and threatened her after you attacked her after the meeting on Monday,” Therese growled.

Cheryl’s eyebrows shot up. “Excuse me? I did  _ nothing _ of the sort. First of all,  _ she  _ attacked  _ me _ on Monday, and I just defended myself. And secondly, I haven’t spoken to her at all since then—not that I would have any desire to do so anyway.”

“Well, she told me that you did, and you’ve been known to lie,” Therese argued, “so why would I believe you?”

“Have I been known to lie, or have all of you just been believing something that someone told you for a year?” Cheryl argued. “Have you ever thought back to me and Madison, and how we were really good friends, and then she told you all that I bullied her off of the team, and almost immediately after, she started working on Broadway? Did you ever think about the fact that the two of us used to practice auditioning for that part every day for weeks? If I’d gotten it, I don’t know if I would’ve left the Pixies, but she was already ready to leave. She told me countless times that if she could do Broadway, she’d leave the Pixies in a heartbeat.

“And then she did, after  _ using me _ to get there. And to top it off, she left all of you thinking that  _ I _ was the bad guy in the situation, and I have  _ sat back _ and let you believe this because the other option was to get kicked off of the Pixies for simply voicing my side of the story. So I shut up and  _ played nice _ with all of you, even as you continue to act like this is a high school cheer squad.

“So before you start believing all of the bullshit you hear about me, how about you think back to everything you’ve been told and question if it actually  _ makes sense _ ,” Cheryl finished. By the time she had finished, the rest of the girls had already walked into the room, and then frozen in surprise at what was happening.

“What’s going on, ladies?” Quince called, walking into the room.

“Cheryl just went off on Therese,” Maribel stated flatly. “For  _ no _ reason.”

“Actually,” Hannah piped up, stepping up boldly next to Cheryl, “Therese was saying that Cheryl threatened Maribel, which Cheryl was denying. And I believe her.”

“Yeah,” one of the other girls, Genevieve, spoke up. Genevieve and Barbara, the other two Pixies, were best friends, and usually didn’t get too involved with other girls, unless it was at some sort of party that the whole group would attend. “Cheryl was literally just defending herself, Maribel.”

Quince let out a big puff of air in annoyance. “Ladies, I know I’ve said countless times that this is no place for petty drama. But let me spell this out for you.  _ You are a team _ . And aside from the brief moments during which you all work together to put on a great show at our performances, I swear, I have not seen you all work as a  _ team _ in  _ years _ . Always so much fighting and jealousy! This is not a competition! Act like a damn team!”

And with that, he stormed up to the front of the studio to begin setting up the music. The Pixies all went silent and lined up across the room, Cheryl meeting Hannah’s eyes and the two of them lifting their eyebrows at the tension they now felt in the room.

As they started to practice, Cheryl realized that Quince was right. Not even when she joined the Pixies were they all that close. It was always a trio of pairs, never did they try to blend any better.

In that moment, she decided that that really needed to change.

* * *

**Bombshell – Just got home from practice, going to hop in the shower real quick but then let’s meet up?**

Toni smiled at receiving the text that she’d been waiting for. Since getting home from Cheryl’s, Toni hadn’t done much other than call Veronica and give some details of the previous night with Cheryl. Thankfully, she’d managed to avoid mentioning that they’d had sex—although with how long Veronica had known her for, she was almost positive the dark haired girl could just  _ tell _ . Even so, all Veronica had really cared about was if Cheryl was going to be at Friendsgiving, and that she really wanted to hang out with Cheryl for real now that she and Toni were starting to get more serious.

**Toni – Sounds good to me! Maybe you can come my way and we can get a late lunch? And then maybe you can come over to my place if you want.**

She didn’t get a response for about fifteen minutes, so she assumed that Cheryl had been showering.

**Bombshell – Okay, fine by me. Where should I meet you?**

They met at a Chipotle near Toni’s apartment, and as soon as Toni’s eyes landed on the redhead, she felt all the feelings from that morning come back to her. She thought of waking up next to a sleeping Cheryl, seeing her red hair splayed everywhere. That soft skin and gentle smile and sweet laugh.

She mostly pushed down the sappy feelings as she grabbed Cheryl’s hand and pulled her into the Chipotle. They had lunch, and Toni got all caught up on the latest drama with the Pixies. It never failed to surprise her just how much drama went down in that group of six girls, but from what it sounded like, they were maybe finally getting past all of the issues. Toni was happy about that, because Cheryl deserve to have a dance team that was supportive of her and, at the very least, accepted her for who she was.

After Chipotle, they walked back to Toni’s apartment together, hand in hand, with their free hands shoved into their coat pockets. It was starting to get ridiculously cold, and Toni was not excited about the excessive amount of layers she had to wear now. When they made it back to Toni’s apartment, she showed the humble space to Cheryl. Her small joint living and dining area, which the kitchen overlooked. And then her bedroom, with her bed, nightstand, desk and dresser filling it up. It was a little bit bigger than Cheryl’s, but not by a whole lot. This was New York City, after all, and living alone was a miracle in and of itself.

Cheryl liked the space a lot, though, and immediately made herself at home on Toni’s bed. “So you’ve heard all about my day. How’s yours been?”

“You’ve only not been with me for four hours of it,” Toni reminded her with a chuckle, “but it’s been fine. Called Ronnie, we talked for a while. Other than that, I’ve just been relaxing.”

“Mm,” Cheryl hummed in response, and as Toni slipped off her shoes, she eyed the redhead carefully. She could tell something was occupying her thoughts.

“You okay?”

“You mentioned Veronica, and I was just thinking…” Cheryl trailed off, and then took in a breath. “I was thinking, perhaps I will join you and your friends Thanksgiving celebration. I’ve never been to anything like a Friendsgiving, and I have no desire to go home for any amount of time this week.”

“Okay,” Toni said in slight surprise. She hadn’t really been expecting Cheryl to agree that same day, but of course, she wasn’t upset about the answer at all. “I’m sure you’ll like it. If you don’t, we can leave.”

“We?” Cheryl asked, surprising Toni again.

“Yeah, well. If you want. I don’t want you to have a shitty holiday just because you’re alone,” Toni answered. She sat down on the be next to where Cheryl was sitting.

“You are very sweet, TT.”

Toni smiled at that, and then was surprised when the redhead pulled her in for a soft kiss. She immediately was lost in it, but after a few moments, the kiss was heating up, and Cheryl began to take control of it, and suddenly, their lips disconnected and then Cheryl was sitting on Toni’s lap. “Well hello there,” Toni said in surprise.

Cheryl grinned sneakily, bringing their lips back together.

And thus began an afternoon of burning touches and intense kisses that led to more than a few orgasms. Although Toni had not really been expecting the afternoon to go that way, she was definitely not opposed to the outcome. Especially not when, hours later, they laid curled up naked in Toni’s bed, under her covers, while Toni put in an order for delivery from a Chinese food place.

“I can’t believe we’re going to have to put on clothes when they get here,” Cheryl mumbled. Her head was on Toni’s chest, so the pink haired girl couldn’t see her face.

“I’ll put on clothes, you can stay naked,” Toni offered, and Cheryl hummed a sound of approval, cuddling further into Toni. “ _ I _ can’t believe that after one night of lesbian sex you’re already so good and enthusiastic about it.”

“I guess I realized what I’ve been missing while I’ve been stuck in a closet I didn’t even know I was in,” Cheryl muttered, getting a chuckle from Toni. “Also, I actually… really love making you come. Just that makes sex with you…  _ so _ much different than sex with men.”

Toni smiled, her fingers tracing little shapes on Cheryl’s arm. “I kind of love it when you make me come too,” she said playfully. Cheryl yawned suddenly, and Toni chuckled at how big of a yawn it was.

“I’m tired,” Cheryl murmured. “Can I take a nap?”

“Go for it,” Toni replied, and it seemed like almost instantly, Cheryl had passed out.

So Toni laid there, holding the beautiful woman whom she’d seen dancing on the DHS stage almost a month ago, and slowly began to realize that she was already beginning to fall for her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry, there will be more detailed smut to come still haha, but I'm a sucker for Choni naked cuddling. I'm getting to write some in my new story soon and I'm excited haha XD  
> Thank you all again for reading!! I hope you all have a lovely weekend! Mine is going to be crazy busy - wow, what a surprise, right? But I shouldn't have a problem updating. Always feel free to tweet at me if it's update day and I haven't updated. I'll admit, I'm a bit forgetful. My next update schedule may be based on specific days of the week rather than ever 3 days, that's a lot easier for me to remember.  
> See you all Saturday! xx


	12. The Heart To Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toni and Sweet Pea have a heart to heart, and everyone's getting ready for Friendsgiving.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey friends! Okay, I'll be the first to admit, this update schedule is not working for me. I will do my best to update again on Tuesday, but I think I'm going to be switching to twice a week updates, Sunday and Thursday. That was my old schedule, and it was much easier for me to remember if I did it on specific days instead of every other day. I'm really sorry that this will mean maybe one fewer update a week, but I'm having such a hard time remembering that I think it's gotta happen lol. We'll see if I put that in place for this story, but definitely for my next story I will.  
> Enjoy the chapter friends! xx

It was Monday evening, and it felt absolutely and totally wrong that Toni was not getting to see Cheryl. She’d definitely wanted to see her despite the fact that there wasn’t class, but before she’d gotten the chance to make plans with her, Sweet Pea had texted asking if she would be down to come over and hang out.

Since she hadn’t hung out with just him in a while, Toni agreed, and promised herself that she would ask Cheryl if they could hang out tomorrow.

So Monday night found Toni at Sweet Pea’s apartment. She was expecting Fangs to also be there when she walked in, but the apartment appeared empty besides the two of them. “Where’s Fangs?” she wondered.

“I think he’s at Kevin’s,” Sweet Pea answered, heading toward his couch. “Fangs has been going on about asking Kevin to be his boyfriend—exclusively—soon. I think he wanted to do it before Thanksgiving. He literally wouldn’t stop talking about it all day yesterday.”

Toni followed Sweet Pea over to the couch and they both sat down, and Sweet Pea turned on his X-Box. “Was he nervous about it? Haven’t they basically been seeing each other now for a few weeks?”

“Yeah, he said something about Kevin being a free spirit? But I told him that too, that they’d been like nonstop hanging out now for weeks. And he was at our movie night last week, and they acted like a couple the whole time.” Sweet Pea shrugged, passing a controller to Toni. “I’ll never fully understand Fangs.”

Toni nodded, glancing down at the controller for a second. She could kind of understand where Fangs was coming from. She thought back to Saturday, after she and Cheryl had been  _ intimate _ for the second time, when she’d realized that her feelings for the redhead were already so deep. And yet, they had not discussed exclusivity yet. “You good, dude?” Sweet Pea asked.

Toni looked back up, nodding immediately. “Yeah, fine. What are we playing?” Sweet Pea started up a Call of Duty game, and they were quiet for a few minutes as they started to play. About halfway through their first game, Sweet Pea cleared his throat, and Toni gave him a sideways glance, now expecting an interesting conversation to begin. He only cleared his throat when he was working himself up to talk about something difficult.

“So, Ronnie told me that you know that we’ve been… sort of seeing each other,” he stated.

“Yeah, anyone with eyes would know,” Toni commented, rolling her eyes.

“Well, I was trying to be subtle about liking her. You know, since it wasn’t very long ago that she was in a relationship with Reggie. But… you know, I’ve kind of always liked her a little. But recently… I guess I knew she was going through a rough time, and we started texting some more, and…”

He stopped talking for a second as he focused in on the game, and Toni finished it for him, “And you started dating?”

“Yeah, basically,” he agreed. “I… I asked her not to talk too much about it with you.”

Toni looked at him in surprise now, her hands stilling on her controller and her character getting shot just a second later. “What?”

He paused the game and sat back against the couch, letting out a sigh. “Like… I know that she told you that she sort of liked me. But this last week… after I let her crash at my place on the Friday before last, we saw each other pretty much every night. And we… you know, actually  _ started _ something between us.”

“Is that your awkward way of saying that you  _ kissed _ , Sweets?” Toni asked, smirking.

“Shut up,” he huffed, rolling his eyes. “Anyway. I asked her not to mention it to you, because I wanted to talk to you about it first.”

“Me?” Toni asked in surprise. “Why? If Ronnie told you that she talked to me, then I would assume that you know that I told her I don’t care if you guys date.”

“I know you told her that,” Sweet Pea stated, “but I wanted to make sure you didn’t care. Because I know that Veronica has gone through quite a bit recently, and I know she’s vulnerable. So if there’s any issues you have with it that you wouldn’t tell her, you can tell me now, okay? I can take it.”

Toni furrowed her eyebrows. “Dude, let’s say that I did want you guys to  _ not _ date. How on Earth would that be fair to either of you guys if I told you that and then you didn’t date?”

“I’m not asking you for your approval or some shit like that, Tiny,” Sweet Pea clarified, “I’m asking if there’s anything you’re worried about, so that I can address it sooner rather than later. She’s your best female friend, and I’m your best guy friend, and I know this must be weird for you. And I’ve known her since I was still going through  _ puberty _ freshman year. It’s kind of weird for us too. So I just want to make sure that… you know that each of us, separately, are still here for you.”

Toni tilted her head a little, thinking about Sweet Pea’s word choice, and she realized that this was coming from a place of caring, not worry. Sweet Pea wanted to make sure that Toni wasn’t going to feel excluded or anything like that because her two best friends started dating. And that actually made her smile a little. “That’s actually really sweet.”

“They don’t call me Sweet Pea for nothing,” he said with a wink, laughing.

“Ew, don’t wink at me,” Toni said, making a disgusted face that he laughed at. Toni sighed. “Look, Sweets. I want you and Ronnie to be happy. The only thing I would worry about with you two getting together is what it might be like if things go sour between you. But that’s not a reason to  _ not _ date someone, and I know that both of you are good people, and that you wouldn’t ever do anything to hurt each other. So as long as you can promise me that I won’t lose you or her as a friend, which I know that you can, I’m happy with it,” Toni promised. “Because you two have always been two of the most important people to me.”

“Don’t you mean  _ the _ two most important?” Sweet Pea asked, grinning at her playfully.

Toni sniffed. “I’ve decided to stop ranking the top four.”

Sweet Pea raised an eyebrow. “And why’s that Tiny? And who’s number four? Ronnie, me, Fangs… oh wait! It’s the redhead! The one you had sex dreams about! You’ve been seeing her, right?”

“I forgot that Ronnie tells you everything now,” Toni muttered, crossing her arms. She’d wanted to avoid mentioning that she and Cheryl had finally hooked up, but the previous day, she and Veronica had gone for lunch, and Toni had admitted it. The dark haired girl had been beyond excited for her.

“I wouldn’t say  _ everything _ ,” Sweet Pea argued. “I just know that you’ve had a few dates with her. Also, she said that she was pretty sure you were spending Friday night with her instead of us. What’s her name again? Cheryl?”

“Yeah,” Toni answered, smiling softly. “Yeah, we’ve been… dating. It’s been… really amazing actually.”

“Aww, Tiny Toni is whipped!” Sweet Pea exclaimed, grinning. “Have your sex dreams finally become reality?” He smirked now, and then busted out laughing when Toni felt heat rise to her face. “Okay, okay, I won’t ask any more about it.”

“You better not, because Cheryl agreed to come to Friendsgiving on Thursday and if  _ any of you _ mention the fact that I had a sex dream about her before I’d  _ even met her _ , I  _ will _ have to kill you.”

Sweet Pea snickered again. “Okay, okay. I’ll be good, I swear. So, have you guys made it official yet?”

“Not yet,” Toni answered, shaking her head. “She’s… new to the dating girls scene. So, I’ve been trying to make sure that we don’t go too fast. It’s the feelings part that’s particularly new to her, so I’m kind of nervous about asking her. I’ve been thinking about it a little bit lately, and I don’t know, maybe I should wait for her to ask me.”

“Would she?” Sweet Pea wondered.

Toni sighed. “I’d like to think so? Maybe I’ll wait it out a couple more weeks and see… I just… I  _ really _ like her, man, and I don’t want to lose her because I tried to go too fast.”

“If she really likes you, then I think if you did try to go too fast, she wouldn’t completely drop you because of it.”

“That’s a good point.” Toni shook her head. “I can’t believe that like _ all _ of us are entering into new relationships right now.”

Sweet Pea nodded. “Cuffing season, am I right?” Toni gave him a very confused look, and he cleared his throat awkwardly. “Sorry, that’s what Veronica said is happening.”

“Oh god, Sweets, you are going to become a pile of mush dating Veronica, aren’t you?” Toni asked, laughing.

He was blushing now, and he just rolled his eyes and grabbed his controller again. “Come on, Tiny, let’s shoot some things.”

Toni just shook her head in amusement, regripping her controller, and they resumed the game.

* * *

Cheryl was in the studio on Tuesday, not getting paid of course, but just practicing. Most of the DHS was empty this week, save for a few studio rooms that were occupied a few times throughout the week. In the past, Cheryl had spent most of the breaks holed up in one of the studios, just practicing and practicing in order to block out her loneliness.

This week, though, she didn’t feel the need to spend very long in the studio. She was mostly only here to finalize her plan for her Monday class’s dance. She hadn’t taught them the very end yet, specifically because she couldn’t figure out exactly how she wanted it to go.

So here she was Tuesday morning, practicing the dance and trying to figure out the best way to block out the ending. She was here in the morning so that her evening could be free, because Toni had texted her late the night before, asking if Cheryl could come over Tuesday night. And of course, Cheryl was not going to say no.

By lunch time, she was pretty sure that she’d settled on the final ending of the dance. She decided to call it complete for now, and make slight modifications if she deemed it necessary during class. Feeling accomplished, she began to pack up her dance stuff, and then her phone started ringing with a call from Betty.

She knew what it was about before she answered.

“Hello dear cousin.”

“Hey, Cheryl,” Betty replied. “How are you? How’s your week off?”

“It’s been relaxing,” Cheryl answered. “But of course, I spent this morning in the studio anyway.”

“Not surprising at all,” Betty said with a chuckle.

“So to what do I owe this call, Betty?”

“Right, I was calling to ask if you’d decided about Thanksgiving,” Betty said. “My mom is hounding me about it, she wants to make sure she has enough food for everyone.”

Betty’s mother Alice had always had mixed feelings about Cheryl, especially after she’d found out that her daughters were related to her. But Cheryl was pretty sure that Betty had talked to her about trying to include her family things because of the falling out Cheryl had had with her own parents. Otherwise, she was sure that Alice Cooper wouldn’t spare a second thought on her.

“Actually,” Cheryl said, her chest puffing up a little, “I was invited to a friend’s Thanksgiving party. So I think I will be staying in the city.”

“Oh that’s great,” Betty said, before quickly adding, “that you have plans. You don’t usually do much for the holidays.”

Cheryl cringed at this conversation, and rolled her eyes. “Yes well, I was not raised in a fun environment during the holidays, Betty. Anyway, I need to be going, I have to get home and make something for lunch.”

“Okay, Cheryl. I hope you have a good Thanksgiving.”

“You too.” And with that, Cheryl hung up the phone, tossed it in her coat pocket, and finally left the studio.

And she walked with a little more pep in her step the whole way home.

* * *

Multiple hours later found Cheryl and Toni curled up on the latter’s couch, the credits of a movie rolling down the TV in front of them. Cheryl had come over hours ago, and they’d had burritos for dinner—homemade ones this time, because Toni had apparently wanted to exhibit the fact that she did not just eat take out. Then, Toni had suggested a movie, and Cheryl had agreed because, in all honesty, she just wanted to be close to the pink haired girl, no matter what they were doing.

She had genuinely enjoyed the movie, though, which was good, and now Toni grabbed the remote and turned off the TV. “Did you like it?” Toni wondered.

“Yeah, it was really good,” Cheryl assured her. “I’m not much of a movie person. I do like movies. I just don’t usually watch them.”

“I love movies,” Toni admitted, smiling at the redhead. “Movies were my escape as a kid. Some of my neighbors as a kid would let me borrow their VHS tapes, and I would watch them really early in the morning before school, because my parents would almost always be using the TV during the day. Movies got me really into film. I almost went to school for film instead of photography, but obviously, we know what I ended up doing.”

Cheryl smiled softly. “I wish I had had some sort of escape like that. Well, I suppose I did, although they were less conventional things.”

“Like what?” Toni wondered.

“Archery,” Cheryl admitted, and she could read the surprise on Toni’s face. “Also reading. Which I suppose isn’t really unconventional, but people do it less and less. I don’t do it as much as I should anymore. I’ve become too captivated by Netflix.”

“Well, to be fair,” Toni started, “regularly reading is kind of more expensive than Netflix, you have to like, buy whole books.”

Cheryl snickered. “There are these places called libraries you know?”

“Oh shut up, I was trying to give you an excuse,” Toni said, shaking her head. “I’d like to see you do archery sometime. That would be awesome.”

Cheryl smiled softly. “I don’t have my kit anymore. If I ever get another one, though, I will definitely show you, TT.” Toni smiled at that. “Other than those two things, I didn’t have much of an escape growing up. My parents often chose what I did with my free time. I took French classes basically my entire childhood.”

Toni’s jaw dropped. “You know  _ French _ ?”

“Yes?” Cheryl responded, not understanding Toni’s reaction.

“You know French, and you haven’t spoken to me in French before?”

Cheryl pursed her lips a little and scooted slightly closer to the other girl, leaning toward her as she said, “Je suis désolé, mon chéri. Je parlerai autant de français que tu voudras.”

Toni practically moaned. “God, I have no idea what you just said, but it was so hot.” Suddenly, the pink haired girl closed the distance between them with a kiss, pushing Cheryl back a little. And then Toni was climbing on top of her, and Cheryl found herself laying down on the couch, her head on the armrest, and Toni straddling her. Toni’s hands were on Cheryl’s breasts, squeezing gently as her tongue controlled Cheryl’s mouth. The redhead was feeling like she was becoming absolutely drunk on Toni in this moment.

But then all of the sudden, Toni’s phone began to vibrate incessantly on the coffee table. Toni pulled away from Cheryl, who gave the pink haired girl her best look of disappointment. “Just give me one minute,” Toni said, climbing off of Cheryl and reaching for her phone.

As she answered it, Cheryl sat up a little and tried to hear what was being said on the other end of the phone call. She could barely make out the words, but she got the gist. Sweet Pea had talked to Veronica, about what Cheryl wasn’t sure, and Veronica wanted to talk to Toni, and she was outside, waiting for Toni to buzz her up.

Toni looked at Cheryl with slightly wide eyes. “Um…”

“Are you not home?” Cheryl heard Veronica asked.

“Hold on,” Toni said, pulling the phone away from her mouth and looking at Cheryl. “Is it cool if Veronica comes up for a few minutes? I’ll tell her to come back tomorrow if it’s not okay with you.”

“That’s fine,” Cheryl insisted, although she was now feeling slightly on edge. She had never seen Veronica and Toni together unless they were in class, during which Cheryl wasn’t really interacting with either of them anyway. But she knew that she would be seeing Veronica and  _ more _ people she didn’t know on Thursday, so it was no time for her to be backing out of seeing just one of Toni’s friends at a time.

“I’ll buzz you up, V, but just FYI, Cheryl is here.” Toni was getting up now, so Cheryl couldn’t hear the response that came from Veronica. “No it’s fine if you weren’t planning on staying long anyway. But you already came all this way, so you might as well.” She went to the buzzer by her apartment door and hit a button. “Alright, see you in a minute.” Toni hung up the phone and turned around to look at Cheryl. “I’m so sorry. She’s here to talk about Sweet Pea, because he and I kind of had a heart to heart yesterday about them dating, and she already came all this way, I—”

“It’s really okay, Toni,” Cheryl assured her. “Plus, I haven’t really spoken to Veronica outside of class. And if I’m going to be hanging out with her and your other friends on Thursday… maybe it’ll be good if I have at least spoken to her outside of class before then.”

Toni smiled. “You’re right. But don’t worry, I will make sure that we pick up right where we left off as soon as she leaves.”

Cheryl felt a blush reach her cheeks, but then there was a knock on the door, and Toni turned back around to open it up. Cheryl stood up from the couch and walked around it, leaning against the back of it. “Hey, T!” Veronica greeted brightly. “I’m so sorry that I stopped by, you weren’t answering my texts but I was already on my way home from Sweet Pea’s so I figured I’d just stop by.”

“It’s fine, really,” Toni insisted, stepping back to let Veronica in. The black haired girl immediately looked at Cheryl and smiled.

“Hey, Cheryl,” she said.

“Hi, Veronica,” Cheryl returned. “How are you?”

“Doing pretty well,” Veronica answered. “I am kind of bummed that there wasn’t class yesterday. Apparently I’m falling back in love with dancing.”

Cheryl laughed a little. “Well, double the classes starting next week.”

“Not that Cheryl is missing dancing at all this week,” Toni said, “considering she spent multiple hours in the studio today despite having off.”

“A dance teacher never truly has off, Toni,” Cheryl insisted. “Plus, dancing isn’t just a job for me.”

“I don’t blame you,” Veronica assured her. “Every time I have a real vacation from work, I spend half of it working anyway.”

“Yeah, it makes vacation with her really annoying,” Toni teased, and Veronica just rolled her eyes. “So, what’s up, Ronnie?”

“Oh, yes, right, sorry! So I was over at Sweet Pea’s today, and… well, he told me about your conversation yesterday. And everything he said to you, I totally agree with. Granted, he didn’t tell me about his concerns until today, but he had mentioned that he wanted to talk to you about it. Anyway, everything you said to him made him feel a lot more at ease, and I just wanted to thank you. Oh, and I brought cupcakes.” She gestured to the paper bag she was carrying, which Cheryl hadn’t even noticed.

“Ooh, cupcakes?” Toni asked, reaching for the bag.

“I knew that your sweet tooth would love them,” Veronica said with an eyeroll, handing over the bag. “Anyway, I’m sorry for barging in. I just wanted to thank you, Toni.”

“Neither you or Sweet Pea need to thank me, V,” Toni said. “I want you two to be happy, I’ve told both of you that at this point.”

“I know. But… I hadn’t really considered his concerns on the situation until he talked to me about them today. And I just want you to know that you are appreciated.”

Toni laughed. “Alright then. Thanks, Ronnie.” Veronica pulled Toni into a hug, and Cheryl glanced down at her feet for a second, feeling a little out of place.

“Well, thank you for letting me interrupt your evening ladies,” Veronica said. “Enjoy the cupcakes. I’ll see you tomorrow, Toni, and Cheryl, I’ll see you Thursday, right?”

“Right,” Cheryl confirmed, summoning the least nervous-looking smile that she could.

“Cool. I’m really excited to finally get to know you better,” Veronica said happily, and somehow, that actually calmed Cheryl’s nerves a little bit. “All I really know is that you teach dance—and some of the few details that Toni had mentioned to me, of course.”

Toni rolled her eyes. “Alright, Ronnie, thanks for the cupcakes. I’ll see you in the morning.” Veronica laughed and waved at both of them before letting herself out, and Toni locked the door behind her. “I’m sorry about her,” she said to Cheryl as she started back over toward the redhead.

“You don’t need to be sorry. She’s nice.”

“Yeah, too nice sometimes,” Toni joked.

“So what was the heart to heart that you and Sweet Pea had yesterday?” Cheryl wondered.

Toni stopped directly in front of Cheryl, who was still leaning against the back of the couch. “Oh, he was just worried that him and Veronica dating would leave me feeling like both of my best friends had abandoned me, or something like that. He wanted me to know that even though their dating, their both still my best friends. It was actually pretty sweet.”

“That is really sweet,” Cheryl agreed. “You have good friends.”

“I do. I’m really lucky,” Toni said. “They’re gonna like you, you know? I can tell you’re nervous about Thursday.”

“You have no proof that I’m nervous,” Cheryl stated haughtily, and Toni just laughed, taking one step closer to Cheryl and placing her hands on either side of her on the back of the couch.

“I can just tell,” Toni insisted. “You don’t have to admit it, but I’m telling you, they’re going to like you.”

“Okay,” Cheryl said quietly, feeling the sexual tension rising due to their close proximity. Toni leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to Cheryl’s neck, then gently nipping at it and sucking at her skin. Cheryl rolled her head back a little, letting out a little sigh. Her hands went to Toni’s waist, and Toni hummed happily as she continued to kiss Cheryl’s neck.

Cheryl felt herself becoming needier and needier for Toni’s touch, but also, she was feeling some of her nerves dissipate after hearing Veronica say that she was looking forward to getting to know her, and even after Toni’s reassurance, it was filling her with confidence.

And so when Toni disconnected her lips from Cheryl’s neck, the redhead surprised her by bringing their lips together and pushing the pink haired girl toward her bedroom. Toni let out a little noise of surprise, but allowed them to stumble backwards toward the bed. They collapsed into it when they reached it, Cheryl climbing on top of Toni, who grabbed at her ass through her jeans.

Cheryl reached down and unbuttoned her own pants, then disconnecting their lips to pull them off of herself. She followed up by unbuttoning Toni’s, peeling them off as well. “Mm, what happened to those nerves, Bombshell?”

“I am not nervous,” Cheryl growled, pinning down Toni’s hands and eliciting a moan from the smaller woman.

“Well, I can see that you aren’t right now,” Toni murmured. Cheryl released Toni’s hands and then pulled her own shirt off of her body, followed by her bra, tossing both away uncaringly. She then took to undressed Toni the rest of the way, including removing the lacy black underwear that she’d had on. “God, Cheryl,” Toni moaned, her hips bucking all of the sudden.

Cheryl ducked down so that her lips were by Toni’s ear. “Ne parle pas, ma chérie.”

Toni moaned and started to ask, “What—?”

“Shh,” Cheryl murmured, then kissing down Toni’s jawline and down to her neck. She was becoming more and more familiar with Toni’s body—and where she was most sensitive. Her neck was one such place, as well as her lower stomach area. So Cheryl trailed kisses down that way, hearing Toni’s breaths come faster and faster.

Then finally, Cheryl looked at Toni’s exposed center, which was clearly soaked. Neither of them had gone down on each other in the two other times they’d had sex, but Cheryl had never done it before. “You okay?” Toni asked, looking down to her.

“May I?” Cheryl heard herself ask, nodding toward Toni’s center.

“Please,” Toni murmured, and with that, Cheryl gathered her confidence and brought her tongue and lips to Toni’s center. Immediately, the pink haired girl reacted to the feeling, her hips bucking and a moan escaping her lips. “Oh god, Cheryl!”

Cheryl felt heat pooling in between her own thighs as she brought her tongue through Toni’s folds, and she brought her fingers near her mouth to slide them into Toni carefully. The woman immediately moaned in response, and Cheryl felt her confidence grow. She didn’t find it too difficult to get Toni close after that, her fingers working gingerly but quickly as her tongue worked at teasing Toni’s clit.

And after not too long, Toni’s legs clenched, tightening around Cheryl’s head, and she came. “Fuck! Oh,  _ fuck _ , Cheryl, oh my god!” Toni exclaimed, before her body relaxed, and her breathing began to calm again. Cheryl carefully pulled her face away from Toni’s center, stilling her fingers inside her, and looked up at the beautiful woman who she’d just made come.

“Good?” Cheryl asked softly, moving so that she was laying slightly on top of, but mostly next to, Toni. Toni hummed happily.

“Very,” she assured the redhead. “God, you’re so good at that.”

“And it was my first time,” Cheryl said, aware that she sounded cocky, but also aware that Toni liked it when she sounded cocky.

“Mm, yeah I never would’ve been able to tell if I didn’t already know,” Toni murmured, pulling Cheryl’s face toward hers for a kiss. When she pulled away, she smiled at the redhead. “You’re amazing.”

“I know,” Cheryl said, but then she felt her face soften and she added, “thank you.”

“Mm, I’m going to need a second to recover, but I really would like to fuck you now.”

Cheryl bit down on her lower lip. “Well, I won’t be stopping you.”

“Good.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for reading and for taking the time to leave comments and kudos, I really appreciate it! Don't forget you can follow me on Twitter @BrittzandTana to keep up with my writing and my life in general. I'll see you all (maybe) Tuesday but definitely by Thursday! xx Have a great week!


	13. The Friendsgiving

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cheryl, Toni, and Toni's friends all celebrate Thanksgiving together, and drink and eat and talk and laugh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey friends! Happy update day! As I mentioned in the last update, I will be switching to a Thursday/Sunday update schedule. For those of you who get sneak peeks or early updates, that means there will be an update on Thursday and Friday, followed by a sneak peek for the next chapter, and then the early update will go up the day after the sneak peek. So basically, everything is staying the same other than when I post the updates here on Ao3. This change is due to the fact that I have school starting up on Monday, and it's so hard for me to have to remember when I last posted, rather than just remembering which day it is. I am sorry that this means fewer updates in a week, but this way, I shouldn't miss any updates.  
> I hope you will enjoy this fun chapter! Enjoy lovelies! x

Toni was not nervous for Friendsgiving—she felt like she had no reason to be, because she knew that all of her friends would love Cheryl. Well, she was a little bit on the edge about Kevin, because he had heard the terrible rumors that some of the Pixies had spread about her in the past, but Kevin wasn’t  _ really _ one of Toni’s friends anyway. So she was confident that it was going to well, and as she helped Veronica set up for it, she felt nothing but excitement for Cheryl to come over.

However, she was one hundred percent sure that Cheryl was nervous, and she didn’t even have to be guessing at it at this point. A half hour before Cheryl was supposed to show up, she was texting Toni.

**Bombshell – Should I bring anything? Like wine or something? Or food?**

**Toni – If you want to, but really you don’t need to. Veronica has like four bottles of wine and more food than I could probably afford to buy in a week.**

**Bombshell – Okay. Well. I’ll probably pick up a bottle of something on my way over.**

**Toni – Okay, Bombshell.**

**Bombshell – What about a cabernet sauvignon?**

**Toni – I literally have no idea what that is, Cher.**

**Bombshell – Sorry. Okay. What does she have more of, white or red?**

**Toni – White, I think? Well, she has two whites, a rose, and a red.**

**Bombshell – Okay, I’ll get the cabernet sauvignon.**

**Toni – It’s going to be fine, Cheryl, you don’t need to be so nervous.**

**Bombshell – I am not nervous. I am trying to be a good guest.**

“Toni,” Veronica called, “you good?”

Toni had been in charge of setting the table with all the fancy things that Veronica had, because since they were all meeting at seven, she wanted dinner to be ready as soon as everyone began showing up. But Toni was pretty terrible at cooking, so Veronica had taken the reigns on that, only asking for Toni’s direct assistance a couple of times.

“Yeah, sorry,” Toni said, “Cheryl is texting me.”

“Is she still going to be able to make it?”

“Oh yeah, for sure,” Toni answered. “I think she’s just kind of nervous to meet everyone.”

“Oh really? She doesn’t seem like the nervous type to me,” Veronica admitted.

“Me neither, but this is… out of her comfort zone, I guess,” Toni replied. She quickly sent Cheryl another text before resuming her job of setting the table.

**Toni – You’re going to be a great guest, okay? Seriously. I can guarantee that probably no one else will even think to bring anything. And it’s perfectly okay to be nervous, but I swear that everyone here will like you.**

**Bombshell – Not nervous.**

Toni just chuckled and rolled her eyes before resuming her task.

As it started approaching time for the guests to arrive, Veronica began placing the food—covered—onto the table. “This is so exciting,” the dark haired girl said with a grin. “I’m really excited to get to know Cheryl more. Have you two made things official yet?”

“No,” Toni answered, “I’m kind of nervous to ask her. I don’t know if she’s ready for that.”

“Well, maybe having her hang out with all of us tonight will shed some light on if she is,” Veronica suggested.

Toni lifted an eyebrow. “Why’s that?”

“I don’t know, I just feel like if you’re dating someone, you can tell if they’re being serious about it all by how they act when they meet all of your friends. And if she’s feeling nervous, I’d say you’re probably already off to a good start.” Suddenly, the buzzer by Veronica’s door went off, and she immediately darted for it, hitting the button to let whoever it was up. “This is going to be the best Friendsgiving we’ve ever done.”

“You think so?” Toni asked with a chuckle.

“Yes!” Veronica exclaimed. “Drop the negativity, T, it’s going to be a great night.”

Toni finally smiled. “I know.”

They straightened out the things on the table as they waited for the first guest to arrive, and then there was a knock on the door. Veronica swung it open almost immediately, and it was, unsurprisingly, Sweet Pea—and his friend. “Hey!” Veronica greeted with a grin. “Come in.”

“Hey, Sweets,” Toni called.

“Hey! Wow, it smells great in here, you guys,” Sweet Pea commented, glancing at the covered food on the table.

“It was all Veronica,” Toni assured him.

Veronica just grinned and then looked to Jughead. “Jughead, right?” she asked him, and he nodded. Toni had met him a couple of times before, but they didn’t really know each other, and she didn’t think Veronica had ever met him.

“Yes,” he said, “nice to meet you, Veronica. And nice to see you, Toni.”

“You too,” Toni called.

“Wow. That’s a lot of food,” Jughead commented, glancing at the table.

“We have to stop letting him have more food after he gets seconds, or he will eat all of it,” Sweet Pea claimed. Veronica closed the door as both guys came fully into the apartment, and then she grabbed Sweet Pea’s arm. They shared a chaste kiss, and Toni smiled a little at how happy they both looked.

“How’ve you been, Jug?” Toni asked him.

“Pretty good,” he answered. “Trying out the whole freelance writing thing.”

“You’re a writer?” Veronica asked, and Jughead nodded in response. Before she could say anything else, the buzzer went off again, and she turned around to buzz up the next guest.

“How many people are gonna be here?” Sweet Pea wondered. “It looks like there’s enough food to feed like, fifty.”

“Let’s see,” Veronica started, “Us four, Kevin, Fangs, and then Cheryl. That should be it. Seven.”

“Oh yeah,” Sweet Pea said, glancing at Toni, “the redhead! We finally get to meet her.”

“Yep, and you better remember what I told you  _ not _ to talk about,” Toni hissed, “because I’m not above castration—even if you are dating my other best friend.”

Veronica looked horrified. “What are you talking about?”

“The sex dreams,” Sweet Pea stated, looking back to Veronica.

Jughead furrowed his eyebrows. “What?”

“Oh my god, Sweet Pea!” Toni exclaimed. “If you say another word about—”

There was a knock on the door, and Toni slammed her mouth shut as Veronica went to answer it. When she opened it, she was surprised to see not only Fangs and Kevin, but Cheryl with them. “Hey, guys!” Fangs said as they walked in. “We ran into Cheryl when we got to the building.”

Toni bit down on the inside of her lower lip as Cheryl walked in, and she caught a full view of her outfit. She was wearing red high heels, high waisted black jeans, with a red, short sleeve shirt tucked into it. Her red coat was being held in her arms, so Toni figured she’d just taken it off. She was also adorning her usual red lipstick, and Toni wanted so bad to kiss those plump lips.

“Welcome to my home, you guys,” Veronica said brightly.

“I brought some wine,” Cheryl said to Veronica, and although she came across confident, Toni could see how she slightly shifted her weight, and could read the slight fakeness of her smile, and she knew that the woman was still nervous.

“Oh, Cheryl! That’s so sweet, thank you!” Veronica exclaimed, taking the bottle from her. “Oh wow, this is a pretty good wine.”

“I have a bit of experience with tasting wines,” Cheryl admitted, “but I didn’t want to go too overboard.”

“Well, this will definitely go great with dinner,” Veronica said, going to set the bottle on the table. “Speaking of, all of you, please feel free to sit down. Dinner is hot and ready.”

Cheryl finally turned to look at Toni, who gave her a smile and extended her hand a little. The redhead walked over to her, and as soon as she took her hand, Toni noticed her expression relaxing a little. “Hey,” Toni said softly.

“Hi,” Cheryl returned. Toni quickly placed a soft kiss on Cheryl’s cheek, not wanting to make the redhead uncomfortable, but also not able to resist kissing her. But no one was paying any attention anyway as conversation had started up about who was going to sit where.

Toni took the seat by the end of the table—where Veronica was sitting—across from Sweet Pea, and Cheryl took the seat by her. By Sweet Pea sat Jughead, and Fangs sat by Cheryl, Kevin taking the other end of the table.

“Before we eat,” Veronica began, and Toni suppressed a chuckle. Veronica couldn’t start any sort of dinner party without giving some sort of speech, “I want to thank you all for coming. It is Thanksgiving after all, and I am thankful to have all of you here with me.”

“And,” Toni interrupted, to Veronica’s dismay, “we should all remember to thank Veronica, who made all of this food herself while I stood around trying to be helpful but not wanting to literally destroy dinner.”

A chorus of thanks to Veronica came up around the table, and Veronica smiled a bit shyly. “Oh, it was my pleasure. I guess all that’s left to say is, bon appetit!”

They all began uncovering the food, oohing at all of the delicious looking food, and serving themselves. Veronica poured herself a glass of the fancy wine Cheryl had brought, while Cheryl herself grabbed the other red that Veronica had already had. Then, Toni grabbed the bottle Cheryl had brought also, glancing at the brand and realizing that she had never heard of it. She poured herself a glass anyway, and then looked to Cheryl curiously. “How much did you drop on that bottle?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Cheryl insisted, and Toni dropped the subject, although she was still curious. She knew that Cheryl came across as having much more money than she did—a product of how she was raised—but she hadn’t really ever wondered if it was completely intentional. It seemed like it was, though, and for some reason, that made Toni feel a bit sad.

She would bring it up later, though, because once everyone had food on their plates, they began to dig in and start conversation at the same time. “So, Jughead,” Veronica started, “what kind of stuff do you write?”

“Anything, really,” he answered, even has he shoveled food into his mouth. “I love writing fiction, but I also enjoy journalism.”

“I’m thinking of revamping my site’s biography of me and my line, but I don’t have an inhouse writer. Do you think you’d be interested?”

“Oh yeah, for sure, I’m trying to get as much freelance stuff as I can,” Jughead agreed.

“Freelance is really impressive,” Kevin spoke up. “Good for you.”

“Thanks, it’s still pretty new. I can’t wait until it’s my only job, though.”

“Love that multiple job life,” Sweet Pea said with an eyeroll.

“Just get Veronica to hire you,” Toni teased, “that’s how I stopped working multiple jobs.”

Veronica rolled her eyes. “We live in an expensive city, there’s nothing wrong with working multiple jobs.”

“Yeah, except that it’s  _ so _ draining,” Toni insisted.

“Okay, that’s fair,” Veronica gave in, knowing that she was probably the only one in the group who hadn’t ever done it before.

”So, Cheryl,” Sweet Pea said suddenly, surprising both Toni and Cheryl, “you’re a dance instructor right? You teach the class that Ronnie and Toni are in.”

“And me!” Kevin added.

Cheryl nodded. “Yeah, I teach at the New York Dance Hall and Studio. I teach four classes this season, and I also dance for the Pixies.”

“Yeah, Ronnie’s told me great things about all of the DHS,” Sweet Pea said, “and I’m excited to see the show in January.”

“Really?” Toni asked, snickering a little.

“Yes, really,” Sweet Pea answered, furrowing his eyebrows.

“You sure you’re not just whi—”

“Toni,” Veronica huffed out.

“Sorry.” Toni smirked and took another bite of her food.

“I’ll be honest, watching a whole show of just dance performances didn’t really sound interesting to me at first, but knowing that  _ Toni _ was able to sit through it all, I figured I’ll be fine.”

Toni froze for a second, trying to think back on if she’d ever admitted to Cheryl that she’d seen her perform. She couldn’t recall doing so, and she was fully expecting what came next.

Cheryl looked curiously at Toni. “You were at one of the performances? When?”

“Ah, Veronica and I went to the first fall performance you guys had. It’s what inspired both her donation and her desire to sign up for class,” Toni admitted.

Veronica chuckled. “Toni wasn’t particularly excited to sit through the classical stuff, but she  _ definitely _ enjoyed the Pixies performance.”

Cheryl lifted an eyebrow as Toni gave Veronica a glare. Toni then caught Sweet Pea, Fangs,  _ and _ Kevin smirking. She had completely forgotten that Kevin had also found out about her sexual dreams about Cheryl before she’d officially met her. “Am I missing something?” Cheryl asked, glancing at Toni.

“I’ll tell you later,” Toni relented.

“Don’t worry, I’m equally confused,” Jughead said to Cheryl.

“ _ Anyway _ ,” Toni said, desperately wanting to change the subject, “what about you Kevin, what do you do?”

“I’m in musical theater,” Kevin answered. “I work at a small theater company. We’re still up and coming, but it’s good.”

“That’s cool,” Veronica said, “I think I remember you mentioning it, actually.”

“Yeah, I met some of the people he works with earlier this week,” Fangs said, “it seems like a cool group. They have a show coming up actually.”

Kevin beamed. “Yeah, we do. Let me know if any of you are interested in coming, I can get you slightly discounted tickets.”

“I’d be down,” Veronica said, glancing at Sweet Pea, who shrugged.

“I don’t really know anything about musical theater, but sure.”

Kevin looked at Cheryl. “What about you Cheryl? You could feel free to bring any of the Pixies. I would be honored for you guys to be at my show.”

“Oh,” Cheryl said, and Toni could feel the redhead tense, “well. I guess it would depend on when it was. Dance classes and rehearsals are getting more intense starting next week.”

“Oh yeah, that’s right,” Kevin said. “How often do the Pixies even rehearse? I heard it’s a shit ton.”

Cheryl nodded. “Yeah, we have practice Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays. Plus sometimes on Fridays. It’s a pretty demanding group.”

“Is it true that there’s been a lot of drama with you guys recently?” Kevin asked, leaning forward a little. Cheryl narrowed her eyes a little and set down her fork. At this point, Toni was sure that everyone at the table could feel the tension.

Toni tried to keep things from escalating. “Kevin, don’t—”

“It’s not really your business,” Cheryl stated flatly.

“Right, yeah, I’ve just heard some things. I usually go by DHS to practice on Fridays, and you’d be surprised by how much people gossip.”

“Actually, I don’t think I would be.”

Toni sighed, reaching her hand over to Cheryl’s, which were in the redhead’s lap and were slightly clenched. She grabbed one and squeezed, and felt Cheryl relax slightly. Kevin cleared his throat. “Well, anyway. The show is every Saturday night for a few weeks, starting in two weeks.”

“Well,” Veronica said quickly, obviously trying to clear the air, “you can count me and Sweet Pea in for one of those.”

Conversation finally drifted away from the “new friends” at the table, and became a little more laid back and natural. They all enjoyed the food that Veronica had prepared, and all had multiple glasses of wine. By the time they were all stuffed, they were also all a bit tipsy.

“So,” Veronica said with a loud clap, “previous Friendsgiving celebrations have always transitioned from food to liquor—shall we continue the tradition.”

“Hell yes,” Sweet Pea and Fangs said at the same time, and Toni chuckled as she shrugged.

“I’m down for a couple of shots,” she said, then looking at Cheryl. “What about you, Cher?”

“Why not?”

* * *

A little over half an hour later found them all having teetered past tipsy and into slightly drunk, sitting on the couch and in chairs around a coffee table, cards in their hands. They were playing some game that Fangs had all just taught some of them, but Cheryl was a little bit lost. She just kept asking Toni what she should put down, and she could tell that the pink haired girl was getting a kick out of it.

Finally, though, Cheryl decided to simply give up on the game, and she slid her cards into the deck, leaning back into the couch, watching the group interact. She found it adorable how competitive Toni was getting against Sweet Pea and Fangs, and it was easy to see that they had been a trio for a long time. But it was also evident that she and Veronica were best friends, given how they would suddenly laugh about something or share inside jokes.

But even as Cheryl checked out a little and Toni interacted with the group, she kept making sure to look back at Cheryl and asked quietly, “You doing okay?” And every time, Cheryl would smile and nod, because she was. She was just not used to this sort of friendly interaction between a group of people. Even at the few parties she did attend every year, she found herself withdrawing a lot if she didn’t have someone there to pull her into the socializing. It was completely different from how she was in high school, but to be fair, she had changed a lot since high school.

The game suddenly came to an end, and Cheryl could tell that Kevin had lost by the way he huffed and rolled his eyes. “How about a drinking game?”

“Do we really need anymore drinking?” Jughead asked, but everyone seemed to ignore him as they agreed with Kevin.

“You wanna play?” Toni asked Cheryl, and the redhead let out a breath and decided to include herself. She sat up straight again, and watched as Kevin got up to go grab something from Veronica’s kitchen while Fangs had been put in charge of spreading the cards into a circle on the table. “Oh god, King’s Cup?”

“What’s King’s Cup?” Cheryl wondered.

“It’s basically,” Kevin answered, approaching again with a cup that he’d found, “the most inventive drinking game ever, designed to get everyone involved completely wasted.”

“Sounds…”

“Terrible?” Toni finished with a chuckle. “It’s not too bad. Just… take small sips, okay?”

“Do you have any beer, Ronnie?” Fangs asked, and Veronica hopped up to grab some. She came back with multiple bottles. “If you want a beer, take one, otherwise keep drinking whatever you were drinking. But if you run out, you have to grab something, so we’ll keep the beers handy.” Kevin placed the cup in the middle of the circle of cards.

“Who hasn’t played King’s Cup before?” Kevin asked.

“I haven’t,” Jughead said.

“Me neither, obviously.”

“Okay, well let’s go over the rules. And of course, Veronica, this is your place, so if you do things differently, let me know. Host’s rules.”

Veronica grinned and nodded. Kevin took a deep breath, and then began explaining.

“Everyone is going to take turns flipping over a card, and each card comes with a different rule as to who drinks. Ace is waterfall, whoever flipped the card starts drinking, and everyone in the circle as to start once the person next to them does, and can’t stop until they do. Two is you—the person who flipped over the card points to who will drink. Three is me—the person who flipped over the card. Four is floor—we all have to reach for the floor, and the last person to touch it has to drink. Five is for guys—all the guys have to drink. Six is chicks—same thing but the ladies. Seven is heaven—last person to put their hand up in the air drinks. Eight is mate—pick someone who has to drink with you every time you do, and yes that can be cause for a double drink. Nine is rhyme, the person has to say a word, and we go around rhyming with it, and the first person who can’t come up with one has to drink. Ten is categories, same concept as nine, but you name a category. Jack is a rule—whoever flipped it gets to come up with a rule that everyone has to follow for the rest of the game, and anytime someone forgets, they have to drink. Queen is questions, ask someone a question, they have to answer with a question. This goes on until someone doesn’t answer in a question, and they drink. Lastly, king. If you draw a king, you pour the rest of your drink in that cup—the King’s Cup, and whoever draws the fourth and final king essentially loses and has to drink whatever is in the King’s Cup.”

“That… is the most complicated ruleset I’ve ever heard for a drinking game,” Jughead stated.

“It’s fine, it’s not that hard to get used to,” Toni said, glancing at Cheryl too. “You ready?”

“I guess I’m as ready as I’ll ever be…”

Kevin grinned. “Great, anyone feel like starting?”

Cheryl decided to take initiative, and reached forward, flipping over one of the cards. It was a three, the easiest card to remember and the easiest one to complete. She drank some of the white wine she’d been sipping after the single shot she’d taken earlier. Fangs, who was sitting to her right, went next, flipping over a six. “Chicks!” he exclaimed.

Toni, Veronica, and Cheryl all took a drink, and already, Cheryl was realizing why Toni told her to take small sips. This game was going to be a  _ lot _ of drinking.

Kevin went next, flipping over a nine. “Ooh, nine is rhyme! Um… the word is… nice!”

“Mice,” Jughead said instantly, being the next to go.

Sweet Pea followed with, “Rice.”

“Twice,” Veronica continued.

Toni was next. “Thrice.”

“Dice,” Cheryl said quickly, glancing at Fangs.

“Vice,” he answered quickly.

Kevin opened his mouth to say something, and nothing came out, and then cursed as he took a drink. The group laughed at the irony, and then Jughead flipped over a card. Queen. “What is queen again?” he looked at Sweet Pea, and Cheryl could tell that he didn’t forget.

“It’s questions,” Sweet Pea answered, and Jughead snickered.

“Drink, loser,” Toni said to her friend, laughing, “he asked you a  _ question _ .”

“Oh shit! That was a low blow, dude.” Sweet Pea took a drink and then flipped over another card. “Eight! Mate! Hmm… Toni, be my mate?”

“Fuck you,” Toni said back, and Sweet Pea just grinned.

Veronica flipped over the next card, and it was a five. “Sorry, guys.” Sweet Pea and the guys took a drink, and Toni did so as well, but Cheryl could tell that she was only taking sips. She was going to be doing a lot of extra drinking now.

Toni flipped a card over, and it was a two. She glanced playfully at Cheryl. “You?”

Cheryl narrowed her eyes slightly at the pink haired girl and took a sip from her wine. She then reached for a card, flipping it over and finding a King. “Already!” Sweet Pea said in surprise. “How exciting. Dump your wine, Cheryl.”

Cheryl poured her wine into the cup sitting on the coffee table, and then opted for one of the beers rather than get up to get herself more wine. “This game is so weird,” Cheryl said to Toni, who chuckled.

“It’s such a college party game,” Toni said, “and not going to lie, Kevin seems like he’s still a college kid at heart.”

Cheryl chuckled at that, and then they both tuned back in to what was happening—Fangs had just flipped over a card—seven. They all shot their hands up into the air, but because Cheryl hadn’t been paying attention quickly enough, she was the last one to get there. She took another drink.

Kevin’s card was a three, so he drank, and then Jughead drew a ten. “Um… types of rooms.”

“What kind of category is that?” Fangs asked.

“An interesting one?” Jughead asked back.

Sweet Pea just rolled his eyes and said, “Um, bedroom.”

Veronica. “Kitchen.”

Toni. “Living room.”

“Dining room,” Cheryl continued.

Fangs. “Bathroom.”

Kevin, proudly, said, “Conference room!”

“Game room,” Jughead said, glancing back to Sweet Pea.

“Umm, laundry room.”

“Powder room,” Veronica said with a proud smile.

“Break room,” Toni said.

Cheryl almost blanked for a second, but then said, “Ballroom.”

“The dancer comes out,” Toni teased, grinning at the redhead and leaning into her slightly.

“I honestly can’t think of anymore,” Fangs grumbled, taking a drink.

Sweet Pea drew a two and pointed at Kevin, who drank with an eyeroll, and Toni leaned a little more into Cheryl. She was beginning to realize that Toni got a bit clingy when drunk, and actually, she found it really adorable. She ran her fingers through Toni’s pink hair as the game continued.

Veronica drew an eight, and glanced around the circle. “Hmm… Cheryl?” Cheryl nodded, as if she had a choice, and Sweet Pea chuckled, glancing at Toni.

“Yes, Sweets, I see the irony of you picking me and Veronica picking Cheryl,” Toni said, rolling her eyes and reaching for her card. Somehow, she also flipped over an eight, and grinned wickedly. “Ronnie?”

“Oh my god, this is gold,” Fangs said with a laugh, and Cheryl sighed as she realized that she was at the end of a long chain of drinking.

“Sorry babe,” Toni said to her with a grin, and Cheryl would’ve rolled her eyes if she hadn’t been so caught off guard by the term “babe.” Aside from sleezy guys, no one had ever called her babe, and she’d always thought that she’d prefer to not be called it. But after hearing Toni say it, her mind was instantly changed.

She hoped that she wasn’t blushing as she flipped over a card, and it was an ace. “What am I supposed to do again?”

“Just start drinking,” Kevin said, “and then stop whenever you want, but Fangs won’t be able to stop until you do, and I won’t be able to stop until Fangs does… et cetera.”

“Right…” Cheryl started taking small sips of her beer, and she watched as everyone around the circle began to drink as the person next to them did. She didn’t drink for long, lowering her bottle after a few seconds, but Fangs kept drinking for a few seconds longer, and a similar trend kept occurring. Sweet Pea kept drinking even after Jughead stopped, but as soon as he did stop, Veronica stopped immediately, and Toni finally put down her beer.

The small, pink haired woman looked at Sweet Pea and said, “I really hate you.”

“Love you too, Tiny.”

The game kept going on like that, and every time Sweet Pea had to drink, Toni would drink, and then Veronica would drink, and then Cheryl would drink. So she basically drank anytime she was supposed to, and any time Sweet Pea, Veronica, or Toni was supposed to. Her sips became less controlled the more alcohol entered her body, so she was definitely aware that she was getting drunker.

The King’s Cup was filled the second time by Veronica, the third time by Fangs, and Kevin was the one to draw the final king. He complained for a minute about the irony of him picking the game, and him being the loser, but then he drank the cup, which was a combination of beer, white wine, and some vodka drink that Veronica had been drinking. Kevin’s face was enough of an indicator that it was terrible.

After the game ended, it seemed that everyone was agreeing that the night was over.

“If anyone doesn’t feel sober enough to make it home, feel free to crash here. We have air mattresses and a couch,” Veronica told everyone.

No one ended up staying though, except for Sweet Pea. Everyone said their goodbyes and then headed out. Toni, Cheryl, Fangs, Kevin and Jughead all took the elevator down the building together.

“It was fun hanging out with you, Cheryl. I’ve heard lots about you from Toni, but it was nice to finally meet you,” Fangs said with a smile, and Cheryl appreciated the comment.

“You too. I hear about you, Sweet Pea, and Veronica a lot from Toni,” Cheryl returned.

“Yeah, it was fun to hang out with you outside of class, Cheryl,” Kevin said, smiling widely at the redhead, who barely was able to muster a smile in response. Thankfully, the elevator reached the first floor, and they all exited it and the building, said their goodbyes, and parted ways.

Toni and Cheryl immediately called for a cab, and once they’d climbed into one and Toni gave the driver her address, she looked at Cheryl. “So, did you have fun?”

“Yes, it was actually more fun than I expected,” Cheryl admitted.

“I’m sorry about Kevin. I know that you don’t really like him…”

“It’s fine,” Cheryl insisted. “He’s dating one of your best friends, it’s fine. Maybe he’ll spread some good rumors about me now that he’s seen me outside of dance.”

Toni squeezed Cheryl’s hand, and said nothing else until they got to Toni’s apartment. As the cab pulled to a stop and Toni began to pay the driver, she looked at Cheryl. “Did you want to come up to mine?” Cheryl bit down on her lower lip and nodded, and then they both climbed out of the cab and started up to Toni’s apartment.

When they reached it, Cheryl immediately pulled off her shoes and let them drop to the floor. “Oh my god, I’m exhausted,” she said, wandering into Toni’s bedroom and collapsing onto her bed. She heard Toni laughing lightly as she followed her into the room.

“You’re adorable,” Toni claimed.

“I do not hear that very often,” Cheryl murmured, and she was starting to realize that she was maybe quite a bit more drunk than she expected. She’d had two glasses of wine, a shot, and a bottle and a half of beer, and that might not be a lot for some people, but for her, that was enough to definitely get her drunk.

“You okay, Bombshell?” Toni asked, taking off her own shoes now.

“What was that at the dinner table?” Cheryl wondered, the conversation coming back to her mind all of the sudden. “Whatever that was. About you and Veronica seeing the Pixies dance for Fall Performance?”

“Oh,” Toni said, seating herself next to where Cheryl was laying across Toni’s bed. “Well, I filled in for Reggie, Ronnie’s ex, at your first Fall Performance, because she didn’t want to go alone, obviously. And, well… I wasn’t particularly interested in the ballet and all that, but I really liked the Pixies. And ah, specifically…  _ you _ . You really took my breath away.”

Cheryl felt heat rise to her face as she heard the admission. “Did you know that I was going to be teaching the dance class that Ronnie signed you guys up for?”

“No, I had no idea. I didn’t even know your name or that you taught classes. And… everyone there was smirking because…” Toni drifted off, and Cheryl looked curiously at the pink haired girl.

“What? Because why?”

Toni’s face was reddening. “Um, well… I kind of had… a couple of sex dreams about you after watching you perform.”

Cheryl’s jaw dropped at this new information. “You  _ did _ ?”

“Yes?” Toni answered carefully. “And I didn’t  _ tell _ anyone, but I had mentioned how hot I thought you were to Sweet Pea, and he jokingly said that it sounded like I’d already seen you naked, and then I guess I got embarrassed and he guessed it. And then since my stupid friends aren’t capable of keeping their mouths shut, V and Kevin also found out. I made them swear not to say anything about it today, but apparently I should’ve been more clear.”

Cheryl was honestly shocked at this—Toni had had a  _ sex dream _ about her before they’d even met.  _ A couple _ of them, actually. She was very surprised.

“I can’t believe you had multiple sex dreams about me and we hadn’t even met.”

“Me too,” Toni said, and Cheryl realized that Toni was frowning. “I’m really sorry, I don’t want to come off like a creep—I swear I had no idea that I was going to be joining your class, and—”

“TT,” Cheryl interrupted, “there’s no need to apologize. I’m just surprised…”

“Why?” Toni asked. “You’re fucking gorgeous when you’re dancing.”

Cheryl felt heat rise to her cheeks. “So, do you still have sex dreams about me, TT?”

“No, not really,” Toni answered, “not now that I get to have sex with you in real life.”

“Well, what about before then?”

“They mostly stopped once I…” she drifted off, and Cheryl lifted a curious eyebrow. “Um. Once I… masturbated… thinking about you… also before I met you.”

Cheryl laughed at that, and Toni was blushing very hard as she did. “Oh my god, Toni, I didn’t realize I’d had such a strong effect on you before we even met.” Cheryl grabbed Toni’s waist, pulling slightly to indicate that she wanted to the smaller woman to move. She guided Toni to be straddling her waist, and then dropped her hands to Toni’s thighs.

“Well… you’re absolutely stunning, Cheryl,” Toni said softly. “I didn’t tell you that I’d seen you perform, because I didn’t want you to think I was creepy. And when I asked you out the first time, it was because I genuinely would’ve hated myself if I didn’t at least  _ try _ .”

“I’m glad you did,” Cheryl said softly. “I needed you to, or else who knows how long I would’ve been stuck not realizing who I really was. Plus…” Cheryl ran her fingers through Toni’s long, pink and brown hair. “I  _ really _ like you, TT.”

Toni bit down on her lower lip, and Cheryl squeezed her thighs together a little. “God, Cheryl. You’re…  _ so _ beautiful and… and  _ captivating _ , and I just…”

“What?” Cheryl had a feeling that she knew what Toni was thinking, and she wanted Toni to voice her thoughts. She wanted her to ask the question she wanted to ask.

“Just… thank you,” Toni said softly, “for coming tonight. I was really excited for everyone to meet you, and I think it went well, and I’m really glad that you had a good time.”

Cheryl smiled despite her slight disappointment. “Of course, TT. Now… do you think we could get ready for bed? I’m kind of pretty drunk.”

Toni smiled softly. “Of course, Cher, yeah, let’s get ready for bed.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for reading, I've very much appreciated all of your kudos and comments, and thank you for the feedback! <3  
> So I road tripped back to college yesterday in my NEW CAR! Man I spent multiple days trying to get that car and thought it wasn't going to work out, but I got a great deal and it's so nice and I'm very happy! But now I've been super tired since then lol, got up sort of early this morning to go with my girlfriend on some errands. We were gone from 9:30am to 4:30pm lol. When we got back, we were so exhausted, by 5:20pm we were passed out, and we slept until 8:30 LOL. But I had a big plan for dinner so we were cooking for at least an hour and just finished eating dinner LOL. Just thought I would share this fun story XD.  
> Don't forget that you can follow me on Twitter @BrittzandTana, and keep up with my fanfic and my life if you want to! <3


	14. The Question

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another step is taken in Choni's relationship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey friends, I know, I effed up. I'm so sorry I missed update day yesterday. Clearly I can talk the talk and not always walk the walk lol. If you'll accept any excuses, mine is: new semester started today, I didn't know 3/5 of my schedule for this semester until this morning so yesterday I was sort of obsessively thinking of all the possible options and stressing and whatnot. Also trying to squeeze in a little bit of relaxation before the semester kicked in. And the sad thing is, I laid down to go to bed at around 12:15am and then my eyes shot open and I literally said out loud "I didn't update..." I would've gotten up but my girlfriend and I had to be up early for various reasons, including my registering for classes, and updating and setting up the next update takes half an hour. :(  
> Please forgive me! Here's a nice fluffy chapter to try and win your forgiveness! <3 x Enjoy!

Toni woke up with her limbs entangled with Cheryl’s, and she smiled before she even opened her eyes. When she did open her eyes, she found that her lips were right next to Cheryl’s, and she didn’t even hesitate before pressing a soft kiss to those beautifully plump lips. As she pulled away, Cheryl began to stir, letting out a little, adorable groan as her eyebrows knit together.

“Toni?” she murmured.

“Mmhmm,” Toni hummed in response. “Good morning, Bombshell.”

“Ugh, my head hurts,” Cheryl muttered.

Toni couldn’t help but smile a little. “You don’t always seem like a lightweight when you’re drunk, but I get it now.” Cheryl just grunted, and Toni chuckled as she pulled herself out of bed. Normally, she would want to lay down for as long as possible before getting out of bed willingly, but she would gladly get Cheryl Advil and some water. Plus, Toni had the day off—thanks to Veronica wanting all of her employees to be able to partake in Black Friday shopping if they wanted to—so she had all day to lay in bed… hopefully with Cheryl. She wasn’t exactly sure what the redhead’s plan for the day was.

She returned to the bed with a glass of water and a couple of pills. Cheryl had clearly begun to doze back off, so Toni nudged her gently to wake her again. Those pretty, dark eyes blinked a few times before opening and settling on Toni.

“Take these,” Toni said softly, and Cheryl obeyed, sitting up a little and taking back the pills with a few gulps of water. She then let out a sigh, handing the water back to Toni, and laid back down.

“I’m sorry. I don’t handle alcohol very well,” Cheryl murmured.

“That’s okay,” Toni insisted. “Do you have much to do today?”

Cheryl shook her head, her eyes meeting Toni’s again. “No. I told Hannah I might come to the studio, but not until the afternoon sometime.”

“Okay. Do you want breakfast? I only have toast or cereal…”

“Toast sounds good,” Cheryl said, and Toni hopped up, headed into the bathroom to quickly get ready, and then went out to the kitchen to get their breakfast together.

Twenty minutes later found them both a bit more awake and eating toast with butter. “So, you don’t work today, I take it?”

“Yep, I get Thanksgiving and Black Friday off, it’s great,” Toni answered with a smile.

“Sorry you had to get up so early to take care of me on your day off,” Cheryl said with a slight frown.

Toni shook her head. “Seriously, don’t worry about it. I didn’t mind. Plus, we can always lay right back down.” Cheryl nodded, taking another bite of her toast. Toni thought back to the night before as she ate, and suddenly remembered the wine that Cheryl had brought, and that she’d wanted to ask the redhead about it. “Hey, do you mind if I ask you something?”

Cheryl swallowed her toast and shook her head. “Ask me anything, TT.”

“How much was that bottle of wine you brought yesterday?”

Cheryl frowned. “It wasn’t cheap, but it wasn’t the most expensive bottle in the world. Why?”

“Because, I was under the impression that you didn’t have the money to drop a lot of cash on things like that. And I don’t want you to think that you have to spend a lot of money to impress my friends. Half of us grew up with next to nothing.”

Cheryl sighed. “It’s fine, Toni. It was a little pricey, but nothing I can’t handle.”

“Cheryl—”

“Toni,” Cheryl interrupted. “Seriously. It’s fine.”

Toni frowned, eating the last bite of her toast, swallowing, and finishing her glass of water. Cheryl was keeping her gaze down at her food, which was almost gone as well. “Cheryl… I’m sorry. I’m not trying to get into your financial business or anything like that. It’s just…” Cheryl looked at her, waiting for her to finish, and Toni couldn’t tell if she was feeling no particular emotion, or if she was mad. Her face was blank. “It’s just, I think that you present yourself as though you still live the lifestyle that your parents live, and that’s perfectly okay, I just don’t want you to feel like you  _ have _ to do that around my friends.”

Cheryl sighed, leaning back into the wooden dining chair. “Fine, TT, I will admit it. I was nervous to meet your friends, and I wanted to make a good impression. But also, I will be honest in saying that I would have bought that same bottle of wine if I had gone to my cousin’s Thanksgiving in Riverdale yesterday. It was about a hundred dollars. I  _ know _ that it is expensive, Toni, and I  _ know _ that I can’t afford to do that very often. But it was a special occasion, and I’m not worrying about it. You’re right, I don’t live the same lifestyle that my parents still live. But…”

Cheryl drifted off, and Toni stayed quiet.

“But,” Cheryl finally repeated, “I want you to know that I do have a small savings. It’s for emergencies, and it’s not just small by my parents’ standards, it’s small by any normal standards. So if I drop a hundred dollars on a bottle of wine once or twice a year, if it somehow does cause me to have a huge financial problem, I have something to fall back onto. Okay?”

Toni nodded.

“But also… maybe you’re right. Maybe I do try to come off as wealthy, but I don’t do it on purpose, Toni. I’ve told you before, I was raised a very particular way. I was raised to bring something nice to dinner parties, to dress my best no matter where I’m going, to speak formally. I recognize that these are things that not everyone does, but there are some parts of me that I cannot shake off.”

“I don’t want you to,” Toni clarified quickly, “I don’t want you to change at all, Cheryl. I really just wanted to make sure that you weren’t doing it to impress them, because there are so many more impressive things about you than that you come from a family that has a lot of money.”

Cheryl smiled softly. “Thank you, TT. That’s very sweet.”

“So I’m forgiven for bothering you about this?”

“Of course,” Cheryl said with a quiet laugh. “Now can we go take a nap? I didn’t get enough sleep.”

“You just want me to cuddle you,” Toni said, sniffing as she stood up and collected their plates.

“Cuddling wasn’t particularly on my mind, but since you mentioned it…”

* * *

The two of them laid around in bed for the next couple of hours, first napping, then waking and chatting while being on their phones, and then it was past noon, and Cheryl got a text from Hannah.

**Hannah – Hey, Cheryl! I’m going to be in the studio in about an hour if you want to come and practice with me.**

“Who’s that?” Toni wondered, glancing over at Cheryl.

“Hannah, she’s going to be at the studio in an hour,” Cheryl answered. “I should join her, it’s been a few days since I ran through the dance, and we have practice tomorrow…”

“Okay,” Toni said, dropping her phone and propping herself up to better face Cheryl. “That’s fine.”

Cheryl looked at Toni—her beautiful brown eyes and dark skin, and her pink streaked hair. The streaks were already starting to fade slightly, but they still looked really good contrasting the darkness of everything else. She wanted to spend the whole day with Toni, but she really did need to go practice the Pixies dance. She opened her mouth to say something, but the question that popped out of her mouth surprised even her, “Would you want to come?”

“To the studio?” Toni asked in surprise.

Cheryl nodded. “You don’t have to, of course. But if you want to. You could meet Hannah, and maybe just hang out while we practice? Or you can practice for class if you wanted to?”

“Sure,” Toni agreed, still sounding surprised but not doubtful.

Cheryl smiled. “Cool. Um, do you think we could go by my apartment before we go? I don’t have any dance clothes here.”

“We can do that, or you can borrow something. I know I’m a little smaller than you, but I think you’d be able to fit just fine into my dance clothes.”

So Cheryl looked through Toni’s leggings and tank tops, and ultimately selected a pair, as well as stealing one of Toni’s sports bras. It was slightly tighter than her usual ones, but not uncomfortably so, and she wasn’t going to be dancing for more than an hour or two, so she figured it would be fine.

Plus, there was something… exciting about wearing Toni’s clothes.

They left pretty soon after getting ready, and decided to take the subway rather than get a cab, since they weren’t on a tight schedule. They talked the whole time, hands clasped, and Cheryl felt herself appreciating how easy it was to be around Toni. She felt bubblier when she was around Toni, like she could be herself without being judged. She could speak her thoughts without being judged, and if she did ever say something that was probably worthy of judgment, Toni would just laugh and counter her somehow. Cheryl loved it, the way she could converse with Toni and feel just so carefree.

When they got to the DHS, Cheryl began to feel slight nerves at walking into the building with her hand intertwined with Toni’s. She knew that the Pixies all knew that she was gay by now, and that Hannah in specific, whom was the only one she would definitely be seeing today, was totally cool with it. Still, she couldn’t help but think of Maribel coming at her for being gay.

Toni must’ve sensed her nerves, because she loosened her grip on Cheryl’s hand as they walked in, but Cheryl tightened hers and glanced at Toni. The pink haired girl was giving her a questioning look, but then Cheryl just smiled at her, and Toni retightened her hold on her hand. They started toward the studios, and some music could be heard from some of the rooms. Cheryl recognized the one for the Pixies dance right away, and guided Toni toward the room that Hannah must be in, and sure enough, the blonde was in the middle of the routine as they entered the room.

Cheryl announced their presence as they walked in, “Hey, Hannah.”

Hannah stopped dancing and looked at Cheryl and Toni in the reflection of the mirror. “Hey!” She hurried and stopped the music, and then turned to face the two of them. “Ooh, are you Toni?”

“I am,” Toni said with a smile. “Hannah, right?”

“Yes,” Hannah answered, grinning. “It’s nice to meet you!”

“Is it cool if she hangs out while we practice?” Cheryl asked Hannah, who nodded enthusiastically.

“Yeah definitely,” she said. “In fact, I actually need someone to tell me what my face looks like while I’m dancing. I pretty much can never tell, since I’m so focused, but Quince keeps saying that I need to seem more  _ alive _ or something like that. Is that code for smile, or what?”

“No,” Cheryl answered, and she and Toni released hands as the pink haired girl wandered over to the side of the room, plopping herself down on the floor. “It’s code for ‘don’t look like you’re so focused.’”

“Huh?”

“When you’re focusing, you look frustrated. It happens to most people. You have to learn to relax your face. Think of it like your face has to dance with your body. If you look focused and frustrated the whole time, the audience isn’t going to notice your dancing as much,” Cheryl answered.

“How do you do it?” Hannah wondered.

“I am very much predisposed to maintaining blank expressions,” Cheryl answered, “so I can’t really give any advice.”

“I don’t really know what you mean by that, but okay. Any ideas, Toni?” Hannah asked, glancing at Toni, who looked surprised at being addressed.

“You are definitely asking the wrong person,” Toni said with a chuckle.

Hannah shrugged. “Alright, I guess I’ll just try not to be so focused… but still focused enough to get the moves right?”

Cheryl laughed a little and went over to Hannah’s phone, which was hooked up to the speakers. “Let’s run it?”

“Sounds good to me!”

* * *

Toni could not keep her eyes off of Cheryl as she watched her and Hannah practice. Cheryl practically went into a daze when she danced, at least that’s what it looked like. Her face stayed relatively blank, as she’d said was the correct thing to do, but her eyes showed the intensity with which she was focusing.

However, her eyes were not where Toni’s attention was, rather she could not tear her own eyes away from Cheryl’s legs and her ass. She knew that she shouldn’t be thinking such dirty things while in a dance studio with Cheryl  _ and _ Hannah, but she couldn’t help it. She was already ready to take Cheryl to bed later that night.

The two girls would run the dance, stop the music, talk about some of the moves, and start again. Most of the time, their brief discussion was in the form of Cheryl giving Hannah advice, but sometimes they did actually collaborate to determine the best way to remember a sequence of moves or something like that. She could tell that Hannah really looked up to Cheryl as a dancer, and honestly, Toni wondered how anyone  _ didn’t _ .

It was about an hour after they’d arrived that Hannah let out a big breath as they finished a run through. “I’m already beat. Have you guys had lunch yet?”

“Nope,” Toni and Cheryl answered together. Cheryl continued, “You want to grab something?”

* * *

Twenty minutes later found the three of them seated in a small café, waiting for their food to arrive. Cheryl was feeling very peppy, and she knew exactly why. She’d just spent an hour dancing with her friend, while Toni sat and watched, and it had been exciting and peaceful at the same time. It was just nice to be surrounded by people who liked spending time with her. It was something Cheryl wasn’t sure she had ever really experienced before.

They got their food and all talked as they ate. Hannah asked what Toni did for a living, and Cheryl watched the two of them talk for a minute as Toni explained her job and Hannah became fascinated with the fact that Toni was a photographer. She started suggesting that Toni take pictures of the Pixies, and Toni just laughed and said she wouldn’t be opposed to the idea. Cheryl smiled along the whole time, just enjoying the company and the warm feeling in her chest.

When they finished lunch, Hannah said that she needed to go run some errands, and wished them both a good day. And they split off into two directions from there, Cheryl and Toni headed for the subway, and Hannah heading off toward… wherever she needed to be going.

“She’s nice,” Toni said with a smile.

“Yes, she is,” Cheryl agreed. “It’s been really nice to have a dance friend again. Especially nice to have one who isn’t using me to get onto Broadway.”

Toni smiled softly, squeezing Cheryl’s hand. “I’m glad that you have her, she seems really supportive and sweet.”

They walked in silence for a few minutes, but despite the lack of talking, Cheryl’s mind was swimming with loud thoughts. She kept thinking about how happy she was feeling, and how good it was feeling to be with Toni all morning and all afternoon. To have lunch with her and Hannah, to see them talking and getting along. She felt so grateful to the universe for giving her this.

She wanted so badly for Toni to ask what Cheryl was sure she’d almost asked last night. She wanted Toni to ask her to be her  _ girlfriend _ , to be exclusively dating each other. She knew that they already were—Toni wasn’t seeing anyone else, and Cheryl definitely wasn’t. But just knowing that wasn’t enough. Cheryl wanted them to say it. She wanted this to be completely real. She needed Toni to ask her.

But as she walked there in silence, the fact that  _ she _ could as  _ Toni _ came to her head, and she suddenly felt her heart pounding. She could feel the words in her throat, starting to come up. They’d just been waiting for her to acknowledge that they were there, and now they wanted to spew forth.

So as they turned the corner toward the subway stop, Cheryl took in a breath, squeezing Toni’s hand, and looked at the shorter girl. Toni looked back at her, looking a little confused about whatever Cheryl’s expression was currently displaying. But before Toni could ask anything, the words spilled out. “Will you be my girlfriend?”

Toni’s mouth opened in slight surprise, and for one second, Cheryl was worried that she was not excited to hear Cheryl ask. But almost instantly, a smile spread across Toni’s face. “Yes, Cheryl, I’ll be your girlfriend.”

Cheryl let out a breath. “Good, that’s good.”

Toni laughed, and a smile came to Cheryl’s face. “You nervous or something, babe?” Toni teased.

“I don’t get nervous,” Cheryl lied, not even trying to hide her smile.

“Sure you don’t, Bombshell,” Toni said. “Come on, let’s get to my apartment faster.”

“What’s the rush?” Cheryl asked, as Toni quickened their pace toward the underground.

“Oh, I just have a lot of things I’d like to do to you right now,” Toni answered casually, even though there were people around, and Cheryl gasped.

“TT!”

“What? You asked! Come on, Bombshell, let’s go!”

Cheryl rolled her eyes, and as they hurried down the stairs into the underground, she couldn’t keep a smile off of her face.

* * *

Toni was dozing off, her fingers moving through Cheryl’s beautiful locks of red hair as the other woman slept. Cheryl was naked, half underneath Toni’s sheets, her hair splayed everywhere. They’d celebrating becoming official with enough rounds of sex that Cheryl had barely had time to murmur the desire for a nap before she just fell asleep. Toni had a feeling that Cheryl would build up stamina for sex over time, considering how long she could go just dancing, but she didn’t mind that she needed to nap after sex.

Toni was sitting up, though, leaning against her headboard and the pillow that was behind her, and even still, she was beginning to doze.

That was until her phone began to vibrate on her nightstand, and Cheryl shifted a little, clearly hearing the noise in her sleep. Letting out a little breath, Toni reached for the phone and answered the call just to stop the ringing. “Yeah?” she said quietly.

“Hey, T,” Veronica said on the other side.

“Oh, hey Ronnie,” Toni said, hoping she wasn’t talking loud enough to wake Cheryl.

“Sorry, did you just wake up or something?”

“No,” Toni answered, carefully pulling her hand out of Cheryl’s hair and sliding off of the bed. Cheryl was jostled slightly in the process, but she stayed asleep. “Hold on.” Toni set her phone down and grabbed some underwear and a robe, pulling them both on before picking up the phone again. “Sorry, hey,” she said, walking into her living room and pulling the bedroom door mostly closed. She glanced out the window and noticed that it was pretty dark out already. She was going to have to figure out how to feed her and Cheryl with the minimal food that she owned.

“You sure I didn’t just wake you up?” Veronica asked, chuckling.

“I was maybe dozing off a little,” Toni admitted, “but I’m awake. What’s up?”

“Oh, I was just calling to talk. I’m sorry, I’ll call tomorrow if you—”

“No, V, that’s okay,” Toni insisted, sitting down on her couch and pulling her feed underneath her. “What’s up? How was Black Friday shopping?”

“It was great,” Veronica said brightly. “I got both yours and Sweet Pea’s Christmas presents, so mission accomplished. Not sure what Fangs wants this year. I might have to be Cyber Monday shopping for him…”

“What’d you get Sweets?”

“Sorry, Tiny, but it’s classified information,” Veronica insisted. “After last year, I know better than to tell anyone anything about any presents.”

“Lame,” Toni muttered, rolling her eyes.

“How was your Black Friday? Didn’t do much shopping?”

“Nope, did none at all,” Toni answered. “Actually, I went to the DHS with Cheryl today, and met her friend Hannah, and then we got lunch.”

“Oh that’s fun, Hannah is one of the other Pixies, right?”

“Yep,” Toni confirmed. “Yeah, it was pretty fun.”

“Have you met many of Cheryl’s friends?”

Toni hummed. “To be honest, she doesn’t have many. But no, this was the first friend of hers that I met.”

“Why doesn’t she have many friends?” Veronica asked, sounding more saddened than suspicious, which Toni wasn’t surprised by. Veronica wasn’t really the type to judge, but rather the type to try and heal or fix any issue that she could.

“She’s just been through a lot, and hasn’t ever befriended the best people,” Toni summed up, knowing it wasn’t her place to tell Cheryl’s life story to anyone, even her best friend.

“She does seem kind of quiet,” Veronica commented, “but she was fun to hang out with. I hope she had fun yesterday.”

“She did,” Toni promised.

“That wine she brought was  _ so _ good.”

Toni chuckled. “Yeah, I agree. I think her parents are wine snobs.”

“My mother was for a little while too, but she never taught me much about the art of wine tasting,” Veronica said sadly. “Anyway! I’m glad that she had fun.”

“Me too.”

“So, what have you been up to since lunch with Cheryl and her friend?”

“Uh, I don’t think you want me to get into details,” Toni teased, biting down on her lip.

“Oh—okay, Topaz,” Veronica said with a laugh. “Is Cheryl with you still?”

“No. Well, yes, but she’s asleep. She fell asleep and I was drifting off, hence why I sounded like I’d just woken up when I answered.”

“Oh, got it. You two have been spending a lot of time together, huh?” Veronica asked suggestively.

Toni smiled, looking down at her other hand in her lap. “Yeah. Actually, update, she asked me to be her girlfriend today.”

“ _ She _ did?” Veronica exclaimed excitedly. “Oh my god, T! That’s awesome! I totally expected you to be the one to ask her.”

“Me too, honestly!” Toni agreed. “I had no idea if she was ready for that, so I was putting it off, but she just asked me after we left lunch and we were just walking and she just… asked me. And it really took me by surprise, but of course I said yes. God, V, I feel like I’m that girl in those totally sappy movies. When did I become like this?”

“When you laid your eyes on Cheryl at that performance like a month ago?”

Toni chuckled. “I guess so. Damn.”

“I have news too, actually,” Veronica said happily. “Sweet Pea finally asked me to be his girlfriend officially also. Last night.”

“Wow, it really is cuffing season, isn’t it?” Toni teased.

“That’s what I’ve been saying!” Veronica exclaimed, seeming in shock that someone else had said it.

Toni rolled her eyes at the irony that Veronica didn’t understand, and just laughed lightly. “It’s the only explanation for all four of us being in relationships all of the sudden.”

“I was thinking about it last night, actually, after Sweet Pea asked me,” Veronica commented, “that in a way, it’s all thanks to Reggie. Because we broke up, I took you to the DHS performance, we joined the class and met Kevin and Cheryl, and now Fangs is with Kevin, you’re with Cheryl, and I’m with Sweet Pea.”

Toni snickered. “Let’s send him a gift basket in thanks.”

“Only if we shape everything in it into the shape of a dick,” Veronica added, getting a laugh from Toni. “It’s crazy how fast things change, you know?”

“For real,” Toni agreed. She suddenly heard noise from her bedroom, and she sat up a little straighter. “Hey, I think Cheryl is awake. Talk later?”

“Of course, T! Tell your  _ girlfriend _ I said hi!” Veronica teased.

“Goodnight, Ronnie,” Toni said with an eyeroll.

“Night, Toni!”

Toni hung up the call and then started back to her bedroom. As she opened the door, Cheryl turned and looked at her with sleepy eyes. “TT? Where’d you go?”

“Sorry babe,” Toni said, coming back over to the bed and shedding her robe as she crawled into the blankets with Cheryl. “Ronnie called me.”

“Mm, that’s okay,” Cheryl murmured, snuggling into Toni adorably. “Did we eat dinner?”

“No, we need to do that,” Toni replied, wrapping her arms around the cute redhead.

“What do you have?”

“Um… I maybe have a frozen pizza?”

“Mm, okay.”

“You want me to go start it?”

“Not yet.”

Toni chuckled, stroking beautiful red hair. “Okay. Just let me know when you want me to.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cozy and clingy Choni =D  
> So this story has 20 chapters, and I'm trying to finish my next Choni story by the time I finish posting this one, so I can start posting that one as well! If you've read my stuff before Choni, you'll know that I used to never finish a story before posting, I would just be a couple of chapters ahead. However, I prefer to have a mostly regular update schedule, and with school and stuff, I can't guarantee that if I'm posting as I'm writing. It's a trade off, I guess. That said, you guys are going to LOVE my next Choni story, I can't wait to share it with you.  
> Don't forget you can follow me on Twitter @BrittzandTana, and feel free to tweet at me on update day being like "when is the update going up?" and that way I'll most definitely NOT forget lol. Thank you all for your kind comments and kudos and for reading <3 I appreciate you all so much! I hope you guys have a great week! I'll see you on THURSDAY!


	15. The Truce

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cheryl goes into Pixies practice with an agenda.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey friends! Happy update day! This chapter is a bit on the short side, I'm very sorry about that!  
> I appreciate all of the really sweet comments you all left me on the last chapter! They all made me smile! :D  
> Without any further ado, please enjoy this chapter <3

Cheryl practically strutted into Pixies practice on Saturday.

Something in her had clicked the previous day, partially thanks do the new developments in her and Toni’s relationship, and partially thanks to hanging out with Hannah outside of practice. She felt like she was almost back to her old self, no longer willing to bite her tongue to keep the peace.

That said, she knew that peace needed to be kept, so she was prepared to achieve it without anyone being forced to endure rude comments or accusations of any sort.

So she strutted into the studio a few minutes early, red leggings covering her legs, and a black tank top with a big, red cherry on it over her red sports bra. She had made sure to put on her red lipstick as well, even though she didn’t always wear it to practice. And as she walked in, she knew that everyone’s eyes immediately looked to her.

She caught Maribel and Therese’s eyes going wide, because they hadn’t seen her walk into a room with such obvious confidence in over a year. Hannah, the only one who hadn’t ever seen it before, was grinning.

“Good morning, Pixies,” Cheryl called to get everyone’s attention, although she knew that she’d already had it. “Before Quince gets here and we start practice, I wanted to propose a  _ truce _ .”

“A truce?” Maribel asked, sounding genuinely confused.

“For over a year, I have allowed certain people in this room to treat me fairly in an effort to keep the peace, so that I would be able to remain on this dance team. But as Quince pointed out just last week, we are  _ no _ team. Teams work together, and can get past petty drama in order to be the best team they can be. So, I would like to say a few things  _ on the record _ .”

No one said anything, so Cheryl continued.

“Firstly, yes, I am a lesbian, and I am dating a woman. This does not concern any of you in any way, and I will not tolerate any homophobia directed toward me. Secondly, as I said last weekend, I did not manipulate or bully Madison last year. However, I do recognize that in the past, I have been a bit rude in my comments to all of you. And for that, I do apologize. Everyone must grow and learn from their mistakes, and I recognize that the way I have previously acted is the reason that you were all inclined to believe the horrible rumors about me.

“Whether or not you forgive me for the way I have acted in the past, and whether or not you believe me when I say that I did not bully Madison, I ask that we set aside this petty drama that has been dividing this group, and finally come together as a team.”

“I think Cheryl has the right idea,” Quince’s voice said suddenly, and Cheryl almost jumped in surprise as he walked into the room from behind her.

Cheryl gave him a smile, and then began to walk to the side of the room to set her bag down. She went to stand in her position in between Hannah and Barbara, and the former gave her a big thumbs up and a smile, and it made the redhead smile again.

She didn’t know what Maribel or Therese were thinking while they were practicing, though, since Quince started the music and had them start warming up almost immediately after he walked into the room. Cheryl got lost in the dancing anyway, though, so she was hardly thinking about it.

She felt the most relaxed that she could remember feeling while dancing, and she knew that that was due to multiple things, but it felt so good to feel so free.

When they finished up practice, Hannah came over to Cheryl immediately. “Girl, that was so badass!”

Before Cheryl could thank her, she was approached by all of the other girls, and she was instantly expecting backlash from at  _ least _ one of them. “Cheryl,” Maribel started, and Cheryl held her breath, bracing herself for the accusations and insults that were sure to follow.

“Yes?” Cheryl asked, ready to hold her own.

Maribel sighed. “You’re right. We need to truce. After what you said last weekend, I actually spoke to Madison and asked her what really happened. What she said didn’t match up with what you said, but it didn’t match up with what she said last year either, so… I don’t know what happened, and I know none of us  _ here _ do except for you. So it’s pointless for us to keep fighting about it. And… about you being gay, I really have no problem with it. I don’t think any of us do. I’ll admit, it was really low for me to try and use that against you.”

Cheryl was hyperaware of the fact that Maribel hadn’t actually apologized at all, but she was honestly surprised to receive anything at all close to an apology from her. Cheryl just nodded. “We should all let the past be the past.” It was something that last year Cheryl probably wouldn’t have said, but it was the only option at this point. She couldn’t hold a grudge against these girls forever, just like they couldn’t stay mad at her forever. It just didn’t make sense.

“I agree,” Therese said, “and… I’m sorry for the part I had in all of this, too.” Cheryl nodded to indicate that the apology was accepted.

“Hey, how about to celebrate the new Team Pixies mindset,” Hannah spoke up, “we all get drinks tonight? Pixies girls night?”

“I’m down,” Barbara said.

“Same,” Genevieve added.

Cheryl nodded. “That sounds like a good way to start fresh. What do you say?” She looked to Maribel and Therese.

“Why not?” Maribel said, and Therese nodded along.

Hannah grinned. “Awesome! I’ll text you all details in a bit? We can meet up at… nine?” Everyone nodded in agreement, and then they all dispersed, grabbing their things and filtering out of the room.

Hannah and Cheryl walked out of the room side by side. “I can’t believe you made that all happen,” Hannah said, sounding like she was in shock. “The whole time I’ve been part of this group, everything has always felt really divided and tense. The only reason I finally started trying to talk to you was because the others were both in their little pairs, and I really wanted to make friends with  _ some _ of you.”

“Well, you joined the Pixies at an unfortunate time. We all used to be pretty close, because everyone was friends with Madison. After she left and all the drama ensued, we were all left divided,” Cheryl explained. “And since then I mostly kept to myself. But I’m glad that you started trying to befriend me after the fall season. I needed the reminder that it is possible to have friends here,” Cheryl admitted.

Hannah beamed at that. “Hey, by the way, it was great to meet Toni yesterday. She seems really nice.”

At the mention of her  _ girlfriend _ , a smile immediately came to Cheryl’s face. “She is. Oh, and you’ll be excited to hear that I asked her to be exclusive yesterday.”

“Oh my god, Cheryl! I’m so excited for you, that’s awesome!”

“It is, isn’t it?”

They walked out of the DHS and Hannah let out a breath. “Well, I’ll text you and the others in a little bit when I figure out a good place for us to go to tonight.”

“Okay,” Cheryl said, “see you tonight.”

“See you!”

On her way toward the subway, Cheryl took out her phone to text Toni.

**Cheryl – Practice just finished! You can still come over if you want, but at nine tonight I’m going out with the Pixies.**

**TT – Ooh, a Pixies outing? Does that mean the plan you were formulating this morning worked?**

**Cheryl – Yes, yes it does :)**

**TT – Yay, I’m so glad! And about me still coming over, do YOU still want me to?**

**Cheryl – Always, TT.**

**TT – Okay, then I will be there probably in about forty-five minutes. I’ll give you time to get home first :P**

**Cheryl – Okay :) Can’t wait to see you. Xx**

**TT – Me too, babe, but about you of course ;)**

* * *

“So what’s Cheryl doing tonight?” Veronica wondered. Toni was laying across the other girl’s couch, scrolling through her phone, while Veronica flipped through different movies on Netflix.

“She’s out with her dance team. She got them to agree on a truce earlier, and they’re trying to like, bond, I guess,” Toni answered. Veronica hummed in response. “How about Sweets?”

“He starts his new job on Monday, and he’s really nervous, so Jughead took him out for drinks,” Veronica answered. “I think it’s a good idea—he’s going to do great at the job, but if he stresses over it too much, he might  _ make _ himself slip up.”

“I get that. I almost did that when I started at V.C. Lodge,” Toni admitted. “People who grew up like us are pretty afraid of messing up real, good jobs. For most of my life, I was sure that being a bartender was my entire future.”

Veronica let out a breath. “Man, I can’t even imagine growing up like that. And not all kids were as lucky as you, Sweets, and Fangs in the end.”

Toni glanced at Veronica. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” Veronica answered quickly, “sorry. Just… I’ve known you guys for what seems like forever, especially since I know a lot about your childhood. But I learned some things about Sweet Pea’s childhood that I hadn’t known before recently… and I’ve just been thinking about it a lot.”

“Oh,” Toni said sadly, “yeah. Sweets went through a lot as a kid.”

Veronica nodded. “Sorry, it’s just on my mind. Maybe you should pick the movie, or else I have a feeling I’m going to pick something sad.” Toni set down her phone and Veronica passed her the remote. She began flipping through Netflix, looking at Veronica’s big TV. “So, where’s Cheryl from?”

“A town outside the city called Riverdale?” Toni answered.

“Oh, Daddy did business there for a while,” Veronica said, then averting her gaze from the pink haired girl. Veronica never mentioned her parents, which was perfectly understandable to Toni. Veronica’s parents of course supported Veronica financially for most of her life until Veronica started her company and was able to start earning her own, but they were toxic people. It was a miracle that Veronica had turned out as good as she did.

“Isn’t it crazy that the common denominator in our friend group is that we all have fucked up parental situations?” Toni asked, trying to lighten the mood.

“I guess that’s one way to bond with people,” Veronica said with a sad laugh.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

Veronica sighed. “Remember I told you that I started therapy?”

“Yes,” Toni answered, abandoning her search for a movie for now and setting down the remote, giving her full attention to her best friend.

“Well, we’ve been talking about some heavy stuff the last couple of sessions, so it’s kind of just been on my mind. But also, she encouraged me to… I don’t know, talk about it with the people who are close to me, especially those who I don’t have to reexplain everything to. Just to… I don’t know, try and process it.”

“V,” Toni said, sitting up, “you know you can always talk to me.”

Veronica nodded. “I know. I know…”

“And Sweet Pea,” Toni added quietly, “you know he’ll always be willing to listen.”

“I did talk about it to him,” Veronica promised her, “and that’s how the conversation of his childhood came up, and we talked for a  _ long _ time last night about all of it. That’s why it’s on my mind. I’m okay, really, but that’s why I’m kind of… a mess.”

“That’s okay,” Toni promised her. “Sometimes messes have to get messier before they can be cleaned up.”

Veronica laughed at that, sniffing. “You’re right. Thanks, Toni.”

“Of course,” Toni replied.

“Have you been to therapy?” Veronica wondered.

Toni chuckled. “Yes, I was in therapy most of college, remember?”

“Oh shit, that’s right,” Veronica remembered. “Man, I should’ve been doing that too. Maybe then all of my negative feelings would be less repressed.”

Toni smiled sadly. “You can’t predict that happening, so there’s no point in beating yourself up over it.”

“You’re right.” Veronica took a breath. “Okay, pick a movie, a funny one. I need to get out of my head.”

Toni looked at the movies on the screen. “Mall Cop?”

“That movie is terrible.”

“We can laugh at it!”

“Alright, Mall Cop it is.”

* * *

Cheryl and Toni were lying next to each other in Cheryl’s bed later that night, both showered and readied for bed, but despite how late it was, neither of them were feeling tired enough to fall asleep just yet.

“How was being out with the Pixies?” Toni wondered.

“It was actually pretty good,” Cheryl answered, sounding surprised that she was even saying that. “I didn’t drink too much, because I didn’t want to feel terrible tonight and in the morning, but the other girls were definitely drunk. We talked and laughed a lot, and I’ve really never laughed that much when out with  _ anyone _ except for you. Then we started dancing, and a song came on that we did a dance to in the spring, and we broke out into choreography and everyone in the club was watching us dance and then somehow we got into a dance battle with this group of guys? It was really crazy, honestly.”

“Oh my gosh,” Toni said, chuckling, “I really wish I could’ve seen that.”

“Probably if you google enough, you can. There were like ten people with their phones out,” Cheryl admitted, giggling as well. Toni could tell that she was still being affected by the alcohol a little, but not much. Despite Cheryl being a lightweight, she was pretty good at hiding it. “It was fun, though. I feel like we all kind of  _ get _ each other better now.”

“That’s really good,” Toni said, “I’m glad that you plan worked.”

“Honestly, thanks to Hannah, it worked infinitely better,” Cheryl admitted. “If she hadn’t suggested that we all go out, everyone could’ve forgotten the truce by Monday.”

“I doubt that would’ve happened.”

Cheryl shrugged. “How was your night in with Veronica?”

“It was good, we were planning to just watch a movie, but we ended up talking about some deep stuff, and then watched Mall Cop so we could laugh at it,” Toni answered.

“Mall Cop? I don’t think I’ve heard of it.”

“Count yourself lucky,” Toni said with a chuckle.

“What did you two talk about?”

Toni sighed a little. “Oh, well… she started therapy a few weeks ago, and she’s been getting into some stuff from her childhood that’s rough and sort of repressed. And she and Sweet Pea had been talking about what it was like for him growing up. And she was just feeling pretty down from all of it. But it seems like therapy is helping her process the things that she keeps buried, so that’s really good.”

“My mother always said that therapy was ‘for the clinically insane,’” Cheryl said sadly, “which I obviously do not agree with. But in reality, she needs therapy.”

Toni glanced curiously at Cheryl. “Have you ever gone?”

“No,” Cheryl answered, “but I know what you’re going to say—that I should. And I agree with you, just… I don’t know, I like to think that I can fix myself… myself.”

“I thought that too, before I decided to go in college,” Toni admitted, curling into the redhead. “But the more I tried, the more I realized that I wouldn’t even let myself tackle the real issues. I wouldn’t let myself even think about the fact that my uncle, who was in charge of raising me, was homophobic and that he used to scream at me about it. Or how I used to spend nights in a row at Veronica’s just so I wouldn’t have to endure him yelling. Or how sometimes, his yelling would escalate into something physical…”

“Oh, TT,” Cheryl said quietly, squeezing her arms around Toni.

“Yeah, it was terrible. But all I would tell myself is the same thing that I told you the first time we talked about my uncle—he was mostly MIA. Which was true, but there were times when he wasn’t, and it was bad. And I couldn’t process through any of that on my own,” Toni explained. “And I’m not saying you need to go to therapy, I’m not trying to tell you what to do in any way. But it’s not like your mother said, there’s no shame in it.”

Cheryl nodded. “Maybe it would be good.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean for us to get into such dark stuff.”

“No, it’s okay,” Cheryl promised. “I’m glad we can talk about stuff like this. I’ve… never had that before.”

“You deserve everything in the world,” Toni said sleepily, as her tiredness began to catch up with her.

“You do, ma chérie,” Cheryl whispered in response.

“Can we go to sleep?”

“Of course, TT.”

And they fell asleep like that, curled into one another, and Toni had never felt so safe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So ready for the weekend! I work tomorrow, but other than that, it's a 4 day weekend for me, we don't have school for MLK day. Yay! I'm excited to get some time to work on my next Choni story, with the new semester starting, I haven't gotten the chance to much yet :( So hoping I can crank out the last 4ish chapters of it in the first couple of weeks of the semester, that way if I don't get a chance to write for a while, I'll at least have something else to post after this story!  
> By the way, don't forget you can follow me on Twitter @BrittzandTana to bug me about updating, or just to say hi, or to see what I do in my every day life haha. I love talking to y'all on Twitter! :)  
> I hope you all have a lovely weekend, I will see you on SUNDAY for the next update <3


	16. The Excuse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some certain people from Riverdale pop up in New York, throwing Cheryl off and causing some tension between her and Toni.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey lovelies! Happy update day! I've been joking that it's actually Saturday Pt 2 today, not Sunday, since I have an extra day of the weekend from MLK day haha! But of course, that doesn't change that it's update day :D This chapter was actually super fun to write, not sure it'll be as fun to read ;D Hahaha nah I'm sure you all will enjoy it!  
> xx

It was the end of the second week of December—Saturday. A busy Saturday, of course, because not only did Cheryl had Pixies practice, but this was the second week of twice a week classes for her Monday class. All of her other classes already met twice a week by default, but seeing as the Monday class was designed to be a less intensive beginner class, the training was also less intense.

Adding something new into her routine would usually be slightly annoying for Cheryl, especially when she’d been in said routine for weeks, but she could honestly say that she wasn’t bothered by the change. Even if it meant that her lunch was delayed a little, she didn’t mind, because she got to see Toni in that class.

Although a few people in the class knew that they were dating—primarily Kevin and Veronica and possibly some of the people who overheard the three of them talking during class—Cheryl and Toni had decided to keep things mostly under the wraps. But they stopped pretending to hardly know each other. Now, Veronica and Toni would come into class and wave at Cheryl, and the redhead would get a slight flutter in her chest at Toni’s beautiful smile and her adorable little wave.

They’d developed a routine over the past two weeks. It was a routine that allowed them to see each other pretty much every day, and stay over at each other’s places almost every night. They went back to Cheryl’s after dance on Monday and Saturday, and Toni would get them both late dinner on Friday nights. The other week days, Cheryl would come over to Toni’s once they were both ready to settle in for the night. It was a perfect routine, and Cheryl had had no problem adding it into her week.

So, when she was in Pixies practice on Saturday, almost done for the week and ready to take an evening and a day off, she was very surprised to see two faces appear in the doorway to the room right after Quince dismissed them for the day. Cheryl, of course, was only about to walk over two studios, but when she saw Betty and Polly grinning and waving at her from the door, she was floored.

She hurried out of the room and rushed them away from her fellow Pixies. “What are you two you doing here?” she demanded.

“We wanted to come see you!” Betty answered. “It’s been a little while since we have, and we felt bad that you didn’t get to come back for Thanksgiving.”

“And you couldn’t give me a heads up that you were coming?” Cheryl demanded.

“Well, it was kind of a last minute plan,” Polly said.

“Yeah,” Betty agreed, “originally we were going to ask if we could come up next weekend, but then some other plans got moved around, so we headed out this morning.”

Cheryl let out a breath, trying to keep calm. “So why exactly are you here?”

“Well, we wanted to ask you about Christmas plans for one,” Polly answered bluntly.

“But  _ mostly _ ,” Betty said, glaring at her older sister, “we wanted to check in on you. People in Riverdale worry about you, you know? You don’t talk to… well, anyone. Other than me.”

“Does anyone ever think about the fact that  _ maybe _ I don’t talk to anyone from Riverdale for a  _ reason _ ?” Cheryl demanded.

“Look, Cheryl,” Polly said flatly, “we all know that you don’t  _ love _ your parents, okay? But all of us have issues and drama with our parents. You really need to get over it. Your mom isn’t nearly as bad as you think she is.”

Cheryl clenched her fists. The last time that this happened, she’d had to go home and literally cleanse herself of the anxiety the conversation had caused her. Surprisingly, she was feeling less anxious and more just angry this time around.

“Don’t listen to Polly, Cheryl,” Betty said quickly, probably noticing that Cheryl was getting mad. “Look, we wanted to come up to the day to catch up, and yes, our mom wanted to invite you to Christmas, but mostly we wanted to hang out.”

Cheryl sniffed. “Well, I’m sorry, but I actually teach a class right now. I won’t be done until three-thirty.”

“Oh, darn,” Polly said, and Cheryl could hear the slight sarcasm in her voice.

“Could we maybe sit in?” Betty wondered, giving her a soft smile. “I feel bad that we aren’t close, Cheryl.”

“We’ve never been close,” Cheryl stated coldly, catching Polly’s frown out of the corner of her eye. Betty, however, didn’t flinch.

“Well, we could be. If you wanted to.”

Cheryl let out a puff of air. “You can sit through the class. But you aren’t allowed to dance, or I’m breaking rules.”

“Great!” Betty exclaimed.

Cheryl led them to the room she taught in on Saturdays, and saw that a few of her students were already there stretching. She pointed at the side of the studio, where Polly and Betty could sit and watch, and then went to set up her music.

The whole time she was setting up, though, she couldn’t stop the building anxiety about the fact that Toni would be here soon.  _ Toni _ . Her  _ girlfriend _ . Betty and Polly didn’t even know that Cheryl was gay, and if she told them, she  _ knew _ that Polly would tell her mother. And only the universe knew what Penelope Blossom would do if she found out her only daughter was not just a disgrace, but a disgraceful  _ lesbian _ .

So she started trying to text Toni, to warn her not to be obvious in any way, to not mention their relationship. But she couldn’t text out an explanation fast enough, and all of the sudden, she heard Toni and Veronica walking in to the room.

She straightened up immediately, and then turned around. “Toni,” she said quickly, “may I speak to you outside?”

Toni gave Cheryl an odd look, but then nodded and followed Cheryl out of the class room. Cheryl pulled the pink haired girl far away from the door. “What’s up, babe?” Toni asked, looking genuinely worried.

“Did you see those two blonde girls sitting on the wall in the room?” Cheryl asked. Toni nodded. “Those are my cousins, Betty and Polly. And they just appeared her after Pixies practice. I told them they could sit in, but they—”

“They don’t know you’re gay,” Toni finished for her, and Cheryl nodded in confirmation. “Okay… so does that mean movie night is called off tonight?”

Cheryl sighed. “They do want to hang out with me today… but maybe you could join us? I could introduce you as my friend at first, and kind of warm them up to the idea of me being gay? I mean… Polly will never be okay with it, but I could just tell Betty, she would keep it a secret…”

“You’re not really close with Polly, though, right? Why do you care what she thinks?” Toni asked.

“Because… I’m not close with her because she is strangely close with my mother… she and… she and Jason used to date.”

“Wait,” Toni said, sounding confused, “didn’t you  _ just _ say you’re their cousins?”

“We didn’t know at the time,” Cheryl justified quickly. “Look, TT, the point is, ever since he died, Polly has been really close with my mother.  _ Especially _ since she basically disowned me. My mother has basically adopted Polly as her new daughter. If I tell  _ Polly _ that I’m gay, then—”

“She’ll tell your mom,” Toni finished. Cheryl nodded sadly.

“Look, I promise we will figure this out, and you can definitely hang out with us this afternoon.  _ Trust me _ , I’m going to need you to make it through today,” Cheryl swore. “But in the meantime…”

“We’re friends,” Toni answered, and Cheryl nodded gratefully.

“Yo, Blossom!” Kevin called out the door down the hall suddenly. “We starting class or what?”

* * *

Toni walked back into the room behind Cheryl, going to stand by Veronica. Both her and Kevin gave her confused looks. “Everything okay?” Veronica wondered.

“We have to be quiet about mine and Cheryl’s relationship today,” Toni answered softly. “Those girls over there—those are her cousins.”

Veronica and Kevin immediately looked over at the two girls. “Damn, they are?” Veronica asked.

“Stop looking at them,” Toni hissed.

“Good afternoon, class,” Cheryl announced suddenly, “sorry for the late start.”

Class went by pretty much as normal, and Toni managed to mostly forget the fact that the only family members that Cheryl ever spoke to were sitting in the same room as her.

By the end of class, though, she was back to nonstop thinking about the fact that she would be spending the rest of the day with the two blondes. One of them looked friendly enough, but the other looked pretty unhappy about being there.

Toni started to go up to Cheryl after class, but Veronica grabbed her arm to stop her. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?” she asked quietly.

“What?” Toni asked.

“I know you, Toni,” Veronica stated, “and you cannot pretend that you’re straight for the life of you.”

Toni furrowed her eyebrows. “How many times have you seen me try to?”

Veronica rolled her eyes. “More than a few, T. Look, I know that Cheryl has opened up to you and us about her sexuality. She’s comfortable with it—but if her family doesn’t know… I don’t want you to get hurt, Toni.”

“I’ll be fine,” Toni insisted. “I’ll see you later.”

Veronica looked disappointed at Toni’s insistence, but just nodded and they parted ways.

Toni grabbed her purse and her card and went up to Cheryl, no longer under a  _ guise _ of paying, but still needing to pay. “Hey,” Toni said carefully to Cheryl, noticing that the two blondes were approaching Cheryl as well. Toni could read Cheryl’s body language—she was more tense than normal, much more alert. Her face even seemed more tense.

“Hey,” she said back, not sounding as happy as normal.

Toni handed her card to Cheryl and she began to ring her up, and then the two blondes reached them. “I suddenly wish I was taking dance with you,” one of them said to Cheryl as she approached. “I miss being on cheer with you.”

Cheryl looked like she didn’t know what to say, so Toni suddenly spoke up, “Uh hey, I’m Toni. I’m a friend of Cheryl’s.”

“Oh, nice to meet you, I’m Betty,” Betty said with a smile. “Cheryl hasn’t mentioned any friends by name recently.”

“Are you the friend who invited her to some Thanksgiving party?” the other one—who must’ve been Polly—asked, not sounding as excited to meet her.

“Yes and no,” Toni answered. “It was my best friend’s party, but, yes I did invite her.”

“Oh.”

Betty coughed awkwardly, glancing at Cheryl. “Um,” Cheryl said, “Toni and I had plans to hang out today. Would you two mind if she joined us?”

“The more the merrier,” Betty answered, smiling at Toni again. Cheryl handed Toni’s card back to her. Toni tried to meet her eyes, but Cheryl was clearly avoiding meeting them.

Cheryl started gathering her things, and Toni stood awkwardly with Polly and Betty, waiting. When the redhead returned, she didn’t look at Toni, but said, “Lunch?”

The walk to the café Cheryl selected was eerily silent, and Toni really hated it. She thought about how to ease the tension, but she couldn’t think of any way to do so. So they were silent until they were seated in the café, waiting on their food.

“So, uh,” Betty said, “how did you two meet?”

“The dance class,” Cheryl answered plainly.

“Oh, that’s cool.”

“So, Christmas plans,” Polly stated blatantly, looking at Cheryl. “Are you coming home, or not?”

“I am not coming home for Christmas,  _ Polly _ ,” Cheryl snapped. “The last time I did, if your microscopic brain can recall, was three years ago, and it was a disaster.”

“Cheryl,” Betty said with a slight glare.

Toni was honestly surprised at the anger with which Cheryl spoke all of the sudden, but at the same time, she got it. Cheryl hated Polly because Polly was always looking at her with the same point of view as Cheryl’s mother, and Cheryl’s mother had really hurt Cheryl. Toni still didn’t know every detail about that, but she would never make Cheryl tell her anything she didn’t want her to know.

Cheryl let out a sigh. “I’m sorry. But you both  _ have _ to know by now that I will not be going home for Christmas.”

Betty nodded, although she looked like she was trying to think of something to say to sway Cheryl. A waitress suddenly appeared with their food, and they all thanked her and took a few bites of their food. Before Betty ended up saying anything, Polly spoke up, looking to Toni. “Toni, what are  _ you _ doing for Christmas?”

“Ah, usually I spend Christmas with my best friend.”

Polly lifted an eyebrow. “You won’t spend it with your  _ family _ ?”

Toni gave the girl a fake smile, suddenly feeling a frustration that must be just a fraction of what Cheryl felt when she spoke to her, “I definitely would spend it with my family, if any of those who are alive even cared—which, if you knew how I grew up, you’d know that they don’t care. Not that that matters, though, there’s nothing wrong with not spending a holiday with your family.”

“But it’s a family holiday,” Polly argued.

Toni furrowed her eyebrows. “It’s really not. It’s a once pagan holiday, transformed into a Christian celebration, turned into a capitalistic device for companies to draw in big paychecks at the end of the year. It has nothing to do with family. And even if it did, family is the people that you love, and trust me, I have no love for the people who raised me.”

“That’s the most barbaric way of looking at a holiday I’ve ever heard,” Polly tutted, sniffing.

“Well, it’s true,” Toni stated plainly, “and it really shouldn’t matter if Cheryl chooses to spend her Christmas with her family or here.”

“To be clear, Cheryl,” Betty said, looking at the redhead now, “no one expects you to see your parents for Christmas. I’m telling you, same as before, that our mom would be happy to host you for Christmas.”

“This is really getting ridiculous, Betty,” Cheryl snapped. “How many times do I have to tell you that I am not interested before you both leave me alone about it? Is there some other reason you feel so inclined to pester me so much that you needed to come interrupt my Saturday?”

Polly and Betty exchanged looks, and Toni felt Cheryl tense next to her, waiting for an ulterior motive to be revealed. Finally, Betty caved. “Cheryl… your father… he’s been in the hospital for a few weeks.”

“Your mother is distressed about it,” Polly insisted, “and she wants to see her daughter— _ you _ .”

Cheryl was looking skeptically between the two of them. “How do I know that either of you are telling the truth? How do I know this isn’t some ruse created by my chaos-loving mother to get me to come home?”

“Cheryl,” Betty said genuinely, “I swear, we are telling the truth. And I know that you and your parents don’t have the best relationship… but do you really want him to die without having seen you in three years?”

Cheryl’s faced was very much covered by a mask, because Toni knew that this would definitely trigger some emotion from the redhead, but she seemed entirely unaffected. “I’ll think about coming home sometime around Christmas.”

Betty smiled. “Okay. I’m really sorry for all of the drama. Penelope really didn’t want us to tell you about your dad until you were there.”

“Why?” Cheryl wondered.

“She doesn’t want it getting out… in case he ends up recovering, or something,” Betty answered.

“What even happened?”

“He fell while doing work on Thornhill,” Polly answered, “and hurt himself so bad that he had to go into surgery. He was doing a little better after that, but it was so much strain on his body that he then had a heart attack. He’s now confined to his hospital bed, and his condition is worsening. It’s been really hard on his body. If things go well, he could recover and be fine, but if not....”

Cheryl just nodded, taking a few more bites of her food. Toni had no idea what to do that this point, so she also continued to eat, as did Polly and Betty.

At the end of the meal, Betty let out a sigh. “I’m so sorry this got so heavy. That was another reason we were hoping to not have to tell you about it.” A pause. “But hey, I told you, Christmas plans wasn’t the only reason we came up here. We wanted to catch up. How about we all go shopping or something?”

And that’s how they ended up walking through the mall later, Betty and Polly chatting, and Cheryl even responding a bit. Toni didn’t say much, feeling pretty out of place. It was pretty obvious that Cheryl wasn’t the biggest fans of her cousins, but in a way, they did know her pretty well. They did grow up in the same town, after all.

Also, Toni was continually hyperaware of the fact that Cheryl had her arms crossed as they walked next to each other, so their hands couldn’t even get close to touching. It was as if she thought that Toni would forget that they were supposed to be just friends and try to grab her hand. And it was driving Toni crazy.

Not to mention, when Toni did speak up to join the conversation, Cheryl would glance at her only for a second. To Betty and Polly, it probably looked like Cheryl and Toni weren’t even friends. Or, maybe that was how Cheryl used to act around her “friends” in Riverdale. Either way, Toni was getting more and more frustrated about it.

Finally, she couldn’t take it anymore. She grabbed her phone discretely and texted Veronica, asking her to call her. And thankfully, a few minutes later, Veronica did.

She answered the phone. “Oh, hey, Ronnie,” Toni said, trying to sound surprised at having gotten the call. Cheryl looked at Toni with slight confusion.

“Hey, what’s up?” Veronica asked, sounding understandably confused at Toni’s tone of voice. “Why’d you want me to call you? Aren’t you with Cheryl and her cousins?”

“Oh shit,” Toni said, trying not to sound too much like she was faking a conversation, “can it wait a couple hours?”

“What are you talking about?” Veronica demanded.

“Okay, okay… yeah, I can come over. I’ll be there pretty soon, okay?” Toni asked.

“I’m at Sweet Pea’s,” Veronica stated plainly, “and you owe me an explanation when you get here.”

“Okay, yeah, see you soon,” Toni said, hanging up and finally meeting Cheryl’s eyes.

“What did she need?” Cheryl wondered.

“Emergency work emergency,” Toni lied, feeling bad about it, but also feeling frustrated enough that she didn’t care. Plus, she was pretty sure that Cheryl knew that she was lying, and even though that shouldn’t make it easier, it did. “I’ve gotta go, I’m sorry you guys.”

“That’s okay,” Betty said with a smile, “nice to meet you, Toni.” Polly just nodded in vague agreement.

“Text me later, Cheryl,” Toni said, looking back at those dark eyes. Cheryl just nodded, and Toni could tell that she was mad. “Bye, you guys.”

Half an hour later found Toni walking into Sweet Pea’s apartment. Veronica was wearing some of his pajamas and was sitting on the couch as Sweet Pea opened the door for Toni, but the pink haired girl tried not to think about what they’d been doing that resulted in Veronica changing into pajamas.

“So what happened?” Veronica demanded immediately.

“You were right,” Toni admitted. “She barely even looked at me, let alone talked to me. It was like I was invisible to her unless I talked. And her cousins told her some heavy shit, and I  _ know _ she must be upset, but you wouldn’t know because she’s  _ so _ good at wearing a fucking mask!”

“Whoa, whoa, are we talking about Cheryl?” Sweet Pea demanded. “What happened?”

“Her cousins surprised her with a visit today,” Toni answered, “and they don’t know she’s gay. And she’s already mad at them because they came up to talk to her about Christmas plans. She said she would invite me to hang out with them today, which she did, and she said she’d try to warm one of them up to the idea that we might be dating. But it probably looked more like I was just a random person in her class.”

Veronica sighed. “I’m not going to say I told you so, but…”

“I’m so frustrated,” Toni growled. “I defended her in front of her cousins, and she just kept on ignoring me. Also, one of her cousins is a  _ bitch _ . And I just couldn’t take it anymore, I needed to get out of there.”

“Did she buy the phone call?” Veronica asked.

“I don’t think so,” Toni admitted with a sigh. “Her cousins did, but I think she knew I was lying. And I think she’s going to be pissed at me.”

Sweet Pea frowned. “I’m sorry, Tiny.”

“It’s fine, probably. She can’t be mad at me for long,” Toni reasoned, “I think. I hope.”

“I’m sure she’ll understand,” Veronica reassured her.

Toni nodded. “I’m sorry that I interrupted your afternoon. I can go home now, I just really needed to get all that out.”

“You can stay,” Veronica insisted, “we were going to put on a movie and order pizza?”

“Are you sure I won’t be intruding?” Toni asked.

“Of course you won’t be,” Sweet Pea insisted.

Toni smiled at that, and she and Sweet Pea went over to join Veronica on the couch. And as she relaxed into the soft couch, a movie starting in front of her, she almost forgot how stressful the past couple hours had been.

* * *

Cheryl waved goodbye to her cousins as they walked down the sidewalk away from Cheryl, where she was standing in front of her apartment building. Once they were facing away from her, she walked into her apartment building. It was well into the evening now—she hadn’t found a good excuse to get home earlier, and now that she was finally getting home, she felt exhausted emotionally.

As soon as she entered her apartment, she grabbed her phone to call Toni. No answer.

**Cheryl – Why aren’t you answering my call?**

There wasn’t an immediately reply, so Cheryl just clenched her teeth and went to her fridge to grab a bottle of wine. As she poured herself a glass, she saw a response pop up on her phone.

**TT – Sorry, sorry. I’m at Sweet Pea’s. We were playing a game, call me now.**

Cheryl did so, after taking a sip of her wine. This time, Toni answered immediately.

“Hey,” Toni said carefully.

“How was the work emergency?” Cheryl snapped. “You must’ve finished pretty quickly if you’re playing games with Sweet Pea now. Oh—unless there  _ wasn’t _ one?”

Toni sighed on the other side of the call. “Cheryl, I—”

“You what, Toni?” Cheryl demanded. “You decided that it was too boring for you to be my emotional support?”

“Emotional support?” Toni asked back sharply. “It didn’t really feel like that’s what I was when you wouldn’t even  _ look _ in my direction.”

“I was  _ not _ avoiding looking at you,” Cheryl argued.

“Look, Cheryl,” Toni said, her voice softening a little, “I’m at Sweet Pea’s. Let’s not do this over the phone. Can I come over?”

“I guess so.”

Toni sighed. “Okay, I’ll be there soon.”

It was about twenty minutes—and a full wine glass later—that Toni finally arrived at Cheryl’s apartment. When Cheryl heard the knock, she set down her empty glass and slowly went to open the door. When she opened it, she said nothing, stepping back and letting Toni walk in.

“Hey,” Toni greeted, sounding even more hesitant than when she’d picked up the phone earlier. Cheryl just closed the door behind her, staying silent. “Come on, Cheryl, I came here to talk to you, not to be given the silent treatment.”

“I’m just waiting for your apology,” Cheryl state plainly.

Toni lifted her eyebrows. “My apology? How about  _ your _ apology?”

“I don’t owe you one,” Cheryl insisted. “I told you that I needed you in order to get through today! And you abandoned me halfway through!”

“Because I was getting frustrated at how you wouldn’t hardly talk to me or look at me! Even after I spoke up for you at lunch and tried to ease the tensions, you would barely glance at me! I wouldn’t be surprised if Betty and Polly think that you and I hardly even know each other,” Toni exclaimed.

“I  _ told _ them that we’re friends, why would they doubt that?” Cheryl demanded.

“Cheryl, I don’t know how you used to act around your friends when you lived in Riverdale, but friends don’t ignore each other. And also, there’s not that much difference between being someone’s friend and someone’s girlfriend in public. No physical contact. No flirting. But  _ talking _ ? People who straight up  _ don’t talk to each other _ are called strangers!”

“I was uncomfortable!” Cheryl exclaimed. “I was upset about them being here at all, and interrupting my day, and them trying to get me to go back to Riverdale. And then they told me about my father! What did you want me to do, Toni? Be extra peppy?”

“What I  _ wanted _ , Cheryl, was for you to let me comfort you. Even if just by  _ looking _ at me,” Toni answered seriously. “I wanted you to act like you knew I was there for you—even if you didn’t want me to say anything about your dad. I wanted you to simply  _ acknowledge _ me when I joined the conversation, rather than just look at me, but not my eyes, and then look back to your cousins.”

“I didn’t want them to get suspicious!”

“Cheryl, there is no way that they’re suspicious! You’ve never told them you might be gay, and you told them I was your friend. How on  _ earth _ would they conclude that you are dating me just because you  _ looked _ at me?”

Cheryl let out a sound of frustration, walking past Toni and toward the wall, trying to gather her thoughts. “How am I supposed to know what they were thinking? In my mind, I was being safe rather than being sorry.”

“You were being too safe, and it hurt my feelings, and I didn’t want to get mad over it in front of your cousins,” Toni stated from behind Cheryl. “So I left. The alternative was me getting passive aggressive or mad, and I didn’t want to make things even more tense.”

“Well things did get more tense when you left!” Cheryl exclaimed, turning back around.

“Trust me, babe, it didn’t get as tense as it would’ve if I’d gotten mad in front of them,” Toni snapped.

“You could’ve at least pulled me aside and  _ talked _ to me about it before leaving.”

Toni let out a breath. “And that wouldn’t have made you freak out? You were afraid that looking at me would indicate that you’re into me. But if I had just said, ‘Hey Cheryl, do you mind if I speak with you in private real quick?’ that would’ve been fine? I don’t think so. I think that would’ve stressed you out even more.”

“Okay, great! I’m the stressed out bitch who  _ made _ you abandon me with them today!”

“Cheryl!” Toni exclaimed, immediately silencing the redhead and drawing her gaze. “I am  _ sorry _ for abandoning you. I’m sorry that I lied about what I was doing to get out of there. But I was upset, and angry, and I knew that the alternative would’ve been worse. Okay? You made me feel shitty, and Veronica had warned me that that might happen, and I thought it’d be fine—”

“What do you mean Veronica  _ warned _ you?” Cheryl demanded.

Toni sighed. “Before we left dance. She said that if I tried to act like your friend all day, it would get to me. And I didn’t think it would, but that was before I knew that you were going to be ignoring me.” Her tone was different now, not angry or accusing, but just sad. And Cheryl finally felt herself coming to reality.

“I didn’t mean to ignore you,” she said, her tone level now. “I truly was just trying to not be obvious. I guess… not having many friends in high school made me a little unsure as to how to behave around a friend around my cousins. I don’t know. But TT…” Cheryl took a big breath, knowing that she needed to say it. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you feel ignored or unwanted. Believe me, I needed you there, and I wanted you there. And that’s why I was so upset when you left. I really did feel abandoned.”

“I understand,” Toni said softly. “I know that I could’ve handled that better. I shouldn’t have lied. I just… didn’t know what to do, and I was angry, so I acted irrationally. I’m sorry.”

Cheryl let out a breath and nodded. “Thank you.” There was an awkward pause that hung in the air for a moment, and then the redhead heard herself say, “Do you want some wine? I had some while I was waiting for you to get here…”

Toni glanced at the empty wine glass on the counter and the bottle next to it. “No, I’m okay,” Toni answered. Another awkward pause. Cheryl was about to say something else, trying to ease the tension, when Toni spoke again. “Hey, I have a great idea for how we can celebrate the resolution of our first fight.”

Cheryl laughed a little at the wording, but then just lifted an eyebrow. “What’s that?”

“You have bubble bath, right?”

“Yes… You want to take a bath?”

Toni smiled sweetly, taking a step closer to the redhead. “Yes, with you.” Cheryl bit down on the inside of her lip. “Does that sound nice?”

“It does,” Cheryl confirmed.

* * *

Toni let out a happy sigh. She was leaning against the end of the bathtub, her body submerged in hot water full of bubbles. Sitting in between her legs, and laying on her front, was Cheryl. Toni was reveling in the feeling of being in such an intimate position with Cheryl. She kept pulling her fingers through beautiful, long red hair, and she could feel how relaxed Cheryl was.

“So,” Toni said softly, “did Betty and Polly lighten up more after I left?”

“No,” Cheryl admitted, “they got worse. Polly kept making rude offhanded comments, and Betty started talking about all the things in Riverdale that I need to catch up on. Like, where people work now, what buildings have been redone, what new events are happening ever year. I could not care less about any of it.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize that they were lightening up because I was there,” Toni admitted.

“You couldn’t have known,” Cheryl validated her, her body feeling more tense now, “you don’t know them, it’s not your fault. This is just… why I hate going to Riverdale. People want to keep me there. I want to stay away. And even talking to people who still live there is hard, because they try to bring the Riverdale to me, and I don’t want it.”

Toni wrapped her arms around Cheryl, holding her. Cheryl relaxed again. Thinking for a minute and debating whether to ask what she wanted to, Toni finally gave in and asked, “What are you going to do about your dad?”

Cheryl sighed. “I suppose I should go see him. He’s… not a good father. But… in some seriously messed up way, I think he does love me. My family just… cannot love well. They see things so differently than everyone else… As a child, I thought that we were the normal ones. Once I moved out, I realized just how messed up they are.”

Toni wanted to ask a follow up question, but she didn’t know if it was a good time. Ultimately, though, she figured it was as good a time as ever. “Do you… do you want me to come with you? When you go?”

Cheryl seemed surprised at that, suddenly sitting up and turning around, so that she could face Toni in the bath. “Would… would you do that?”

“Of course,” Toni promised. “I wouldn’t mind at all, really. I want to help make it easier for you.”

“Oh, TT!” Cheryl took a breath. “I would really love that.”

“But, Cheryl…” Toni trailed off, and she didn’t know if she should finish her thought. Cheryl furrowed her eyebrows, tilting her head. “I can’t… I can’t do today again. And before you think I am, I am  _ not _ saying that you need to come out to any of your family or anyone in your hometown. But if you aren’t going to, you can’t ignore me. I want you to let me be there for you.”

“I swear, TT,” Cheryl promised, “I will. I’m learning, Toni. I’m learning to let you be there for me, even when other people are around.”

Toni smiled at that. “I know.” There was a moment of calm silence between them for a moment, and Toni decided to change the subject. “So, since we had our first fight today, do we get to have makeup sex?” She quirked up an eyebrow suggestively.

Cheryl lifted her eyebrows, playing along as she responded, “Hmm… well, we already made up, TT, so I’m not sure we can…”

“We could have another fight?” Toni joked.

“Or,” Cheryl countered, “we can just have sex anyway…”

Toni bit back a grin. “I mean, it’s not  _ makeup sex _ , but I guess that’ll be fine…”

“It’ll have to do, TT, because I’m not about to fight with you again,” Cheryl insisted, leaning forward and pressing a firm kiss to Toni’s lips. Toni hummed happily, her hands coming out of the warm water and touching Cheryl’s chest, which was cool to the touch since it wasn’t submerged.

Cheryl tried to get closer to Toni as they made out, getting on top of her lap and causing some water to slosh around. They both started to forget where they were though as they kissed and grabbed at each other, and suddenly, they heard water splashing outside of the bathtub.

They pulled apart immediately, and Toni groaned. “I guess we should get out of the bath first?”

“I guess so,” Cheryl responded with amusement. “Come on, TT, we’ll have non-makeup sex very soon.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Didn't wanna leave off on a bad note <3 Bubble baths are great haha.  
> So the Choni story I'm working on is nearly at 100,000 words! I'm on the 23rd chapter and aiming for 25 or 26! I can't WAIT to post it, seriously. I'm so freaking excited. And I actually have so many plans for writing in general and ideas and I'm feeling so motivated and inspired and I don't really know why but I'm trying not to question it because this hasn't happened in a couple years that I've been able to write so much so fast! I appreciate all of you for reading and kudosing and commenting and being here to support me finally coming back onto Ao3!  
> Remember that you can keep up with me, this story (and its sneak peeks and early updates), and all my other writing endeavors on Twitter @BrittzandTana! Again, thank you all so much for your support! See you on Thursday! :D xx


	17. The Confrontation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cheryl and Toni head to Riverdale to see Cheryl's father.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gooooood morning everyone! I know what you're thinking - jeez, Tori, what time even is it for you? It's 8:20am, thanks for asking! Lol, I now work an 8am-12pm shift at my job on Thursdays, and my job is to literally monitor a lab on campus... how many people do you think are here at 8:20am? That's right, NONE. Well, I'm allowed to be on my laptop and doing homework and stuff regardless, so here I am. Hopefully I'll be able to update at this time every Thursday!  
> Anyway, here is the anticipated (dreaded? XD) Riverdale chapter!! Enjoy friends!

“So, you ready to go meet Cheryl’s  _ family _ ?” Veronica asked, glancing at Toni, who was sat at Veronica’s dining table. The black-haired girl was cooking dinner for the two of them—which Toni greatly appreciated. It was Sunday, three days before Christmas. Originally, the Monday before Christmas was meant to be a dance class day, but class had been canceled, because it was the best day for Cheryl and Toni to go to Riverdale.

Because Cheryl couldn’t do anything on Monday, however, an impromptu evening Pixies practice had been scheduled for Sunday, which meant that Cheryl would be occupied for about an hour. Sweet Pea was supposed to be coming over soon, and by the time dinner was ready later, Cheryl was going to be headed over too. So Toni was at Veronica’s, waiting for the rest of their dinner group to arrive.

“I mean,” Toni started, “I guess so? I think the plan is to try and avoid as many people as possible. I guess we’ve been roped into dinner with her cousins’ family, but before that, we are just going to go straight to the hospital to see her dad.”

“Is her mom going to be there?” Cheryl wondered.

Toni lifted an eyebrow. “Cheryl is hoping not. Apparently, her mom is basically the antichrist.”

“Sounds like her mom and my dad would get along great,” Veronica commented with a laugh.

Toni chuckled a little as well. “Probably. But yeah, we are trying to avoid meeting her.”

“Has Cheryl said whether or not she’s going to tell everyone your relationship status?” Veronica wondered. Toni knew that her best friend was worried about a repeat of the previous weekend, but Toni wasn’t too worried about it.

“She hasn’t fully decided.  _ But _ , she said that if she does anything that makes me feel ignored or anything, that I’m allowed to butt in,” Toni answered, shrugging.

“That’s… kind of weird.”

Toni shrugged. “She’s working on it. But, she may end up telling her family. I don’t know. To be honest, I think Cheryl would like it if this is the last time she ever even sees her family, other than maybe one of her cousins. So I guess it doesn’t really matter what they think we are.”

“Man, I daresay her relationship with her parents is even worse than my relationship with mine,” Veronica commented.

Toni nodded. “Probably. Your parents were terrible, but at least they built you up. Not always in the best or most ethical way, but they made you strong. Cheryl’s had to be strong in  _ spite _ of her parents.”

“Yeah, that makes a big difference,” Veronica agreed. “That kind of sucks. That between the two of you, you have basically no parents.”

“Isn’t it the same with you and Sweets?” Toni bounced back.

Veronica thought for a minute. “Yes, yes it is. I mean, I still speak to my parents, though. Cheryl doesn’t even do that, does she?”

“No, she doesn’t,” Toni confirmed.

“Honestly, therapy has been doing wonders for my feelings toward my parents. I feel like I’m finally processing all the terrible things they did, and moving on. I no longer really feel angry at them either. I don’t know that I would ever welcome them fully back into my life, but it feels good to not be so angry all the time, even if I wasn’t noticing it before,” Veronica admitted.

Toni smiled. “I’m glad it’s helping.”

“I keep telling Sweet Pea that he should go to therapy,” Veronica admitted. “Well, not  _ telling _ him, but suggesting it. I don’t think he’s comfortable with it, though.”

“Personally,” Toni said, “I think everyone should go to therapy. It’s great.”

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, and Toni looked curiously at Veronica. “He has the passkey into the building, huh?” she asked quietly, getting up to let Sweet Pea in.

“It’s so much effort to buzz people in, okay?” Veronica responded. Toni just chuckled and opened the door, revealing her other best friend.

“Come on in, Ronnie’s Better Half,” Toni joked.

“Hey!” Veronica exclaimed in offense.

Sweet Pea rolled his eyes. “Don’t pull me into whatever weird girl thing this is.”

“It’s not a weird girl thing, it’s me teasing Veronica,” Toni stated, shaking her head. “You’re lame.”

“Where’s Cheryl? Isn’t she supposed to be here too?” Sweet Pea asked, walking all the way into the apartment now and closing the door behind him.

“Impromptu Pixies Practice,” Toni answered.

“Ah, gotcha. So, Tiny, you ready to meet Red’s parents?” Sweet Pea lifted an eyebrow.

“Ready as I’ll ever be, I guess.”

Veronica came over to the door to kiss Sweet Pea hello, and then added, “I already talked to her about tomorrow—apparently their plan is to try and avoid seeing anyone other than Cheryl’s dad and cousins.”

“And her cousins’ mom,” Toni added.

“Her  _ aunt _ ?” Veronica asked with a snicker.

Toni rolled her eyes. “Betty and Polly are her  _ third _ cousins. I have no idea what degree removed or whatever their mom would be. So doesn’t really think of their mom as her aunt.”

“Her family sounds complicated,” Sweet Pea commented.

“It is, take my word for it,” Toni insisted.

“So what’s for dinner, babe?”

“Ratatouille,” Veronica answered with a grin. “Over pasta. I started trying to do Meatless Mondays recently, but it was too hard at work, so I’m doing Meatless Sundays from now on.”

Toni chuckled. “Amazing. How are Meatless Sundays treating you, Sweets?”

“Oh, this is the first I’ve heard of it,” Sweet Pea admitted. “I’m sure it’s fine, though. Food is food.”

“See, he’s on board,” Veronica said with a grin.

Toni shrugged. “I mean, I’m on board. Save the planet or whatever.” Veronica rolled her eyes.

They hung out while Veronica cooked and while they waited for Cheryl. Toni got a text from her girlfriend when she left DHS, and then about twenty minutes later, there was a buzz from Veronica’s door. Toni buzzed Cheryl up, and a minute later, their quartet was complete.

“Hey, babe,” Toni said with a grin, opening the door and letting Cheryl in. “How was practice?”

“It was good. We’re basically in the home stretch now, so it’s pretty intense,” Cheryl admitted.

“So, is our class going to be shit since we’re missing a day?” Veronica asked with disappointment.

Cheryl shook her head. “No, I’m sure it’ll be fine. You guys are all doing great.” Toni closed the door behind her girlfriend, who waved in greeting to Sweet Pea.

“Okay, guys, sit down, dinner is ready!” Veronica exclaimed happily.

“What’s for dinner?” Cheryl wondered.

“Ratatouille,” Toni answered, wiggling her eyebrows funnily.

“Like the movie?” Cheryl asked with a chuckle, glancing at Veronica as they sat down at the table. Veronica was bringing a bit bowl of pasta over, and after she set it down, she went to go get the bowl of ratatouille.

“Yes, like the movie,” she confirmed as she brought over the food. “It’s delicious, trust me.”

Once Veronica was seated, they all served themselves, and Toni took a bite of the meal—and it  _ was _ delicious. “Wow, V,” she said, “this is really great.”

“Thanks! See! Who needs meat when you have eggplant?” Veronica exclaimed.

Toni and Sweet Pea met each other’s gaze at hearing that, and then both busted out in laughter at the comment. Veronica looked confused. “What did I say?”

Cheryl smiled and said to Veronica, “Um, meat… eggplant…”

“Oh,” Veronica said, rolling her eyes. “Shut up, you guys are like twelve years old. Eat your dinner."

They ate in silence for a few minutes, and then Sweet Pea glanced between Toni and Cheryl. “So you guys are only going to be in Riverdale for the day?”

“Yes,” Cheryl confirmed. “I definitely have no desire to be there longer than that. We are leaving the city in the morning and heading back after dinner with my cousins. Oh, and Veronica, thank you so much for letting us borrow your car.”

Veronica smiled. “It’s no problem! It doesn’t get a lot of use, honestly. I only use it to get to work every now and then. And V. C. Lodge is closed this week anyway, so I’ll probably spend most of the day inside tomorrow.”

“I really appreciate it,” Cheryl said, “typically I have to take a bus. And that is never fun.”

“Not to mention, that probably takes like way longer,” Sweet Pea commented, to which Toni and Cheryl both nodded in confirmation.

“We looked, it was going to take like four hours on the bus, when it’s less than two hours if you drive straight there,” Toni admitted.

“Well, you guys better be safe driving tomorrow,” Veronica tutted, “I know that neither of you drive very often.”

“We will be,” Cheryl assured her.

“It’s not you I’m worried about,” Veronica teased, looking to Toni, “the last vehicle Toni drove was her motorcycle.”

“Motorcycle?” Cheryl asked curiously, looking to Toni with raised eyebrows.

Toni nodded. “I used to have one. I had to sell it during college, and I’ve never really seen much of a point in buying a new one.”

“You’re missing out, Cheryl,” Veronica teased, “Toni looked  _ hot _ on a motorcycle.”

Cheryl blushed a little and Toni rolled her eyes at her best friend. “Oh shut up.”

“I would agree, but I was banned from talking about Toni like that in like freshman year of high school,” Sweet Pea joked.

“Damn right,” Toni snapped in agreement.

“Well, I’ll have to get you on a motorcycle sometime then, huh?” Cheryl asked, looking pointedly at her girlfriend. Toni blushed a little and just went back to eating, causing her best friends to chuckle and a grin to spread across Cheryl’s face. It wasn’t often that someone could get Toni seeming so shy.

* * *

Dinner ended not too long later, and Cheryl and Toni thanked Veronica for dinner and for hosting, and then they dismissed themselves and headed to Cheryl’s apartment—in Veronica’s car. They were going to leave from her apartment the next morning, so they’d decided to stay there for the night.

When they got there, Cheryl immediately heaved a sigh as she took off her shoes, feeling a bit anxious. She entered into her room and started getting ready to shower, and then Toni asked, “Babe, are you okay?”

Cheryl blinked out of her trance and turned to look at her girlfriend. “Sorry, TT. I’ll admit… I’m worried about tomorrow.”

“Hey, it’s going to be okay,” Toni assured her. “I’m going to be right there with you the whole time we’re there. And it’s like you said, we probably won’t even have to see your mom at all.”

“But if we do—”

“Then we’ll cross that bridge when we get there,” Toni promised. “I swear, Cheryl, I will not let her hurt you anymore.”

Cheryl felt tears fill her eyes—happy tears. It was something that she wasn’t sure had ever happened before, that someone could say something with such sincerity that it made her tear up. She sniffed a little to keep the tears from leaking, and smiled at the beautiful woman she whom she was lucky enough to call hers. “Thank you.”

“Of course,” Toni replied, taking a step forward and wrapping her arms around the redhead. “We’re going to be okay.”

Cheryl nodded, unable to say anymore words. She was sure if she tried to, she would just end up crying. She took in a deep, shaky breath, trying to recompose herself. Finally, she spoke, “Okay, I should shower.”

Toni smirked a little. “You want company?”

“I never mind your company, TT.” At hearing that, Toni joined their lips together, and Cheryl swore that any negative thought in her head immediately disappeared. She was immediately lost in the kiss, pulling Toni’s body closer to hers as it heated up between them. Toni was the greatest distraction.

Toni’s hands began perusing around Cheryl’s hips, and then gripped her shirt and pulled it up. Cheryl immediately disconnected their lips in order to help tear the clothing off of herself, and then she promptly removed Toni’s shirt as well. Bras came flying off next, and then Cheryl began pushing Toni toward the bathroom. Toni began pulling of Cheryl’s yoga pants as they moved, causing them to almost trip, and Cheryl let out a loud squeal. “TT!”

“Sorry, sorry,” Toni said with a breathless laugh. “Take them off, babe.”

They stopped moving so that Cheryl could obey the request, and she pulled off her underwear along with them. Toni did the same, removing the rest of her clothing, and then they finally entered the bathroom. Cheryl started the water running, and as soon as it wasn’t freezing, they got in.

They’d had a moment to cool down, but as soon as they were in the shower, Toni pushed Cheryl up against the tile wall and connected their lips once again. Her hands explored Cheryl’s upper body, tracing her curves and her breasts, and Cheryl became more and more breathless as she did.

As she got more and more desperate for Toni’s touch, she suddenly recalled Veronica mentioning that Toni used to have a motorcycle, and the image of the pink haired girl straddling a badass motorcycle, and a moan immediately escaped her throat. “Toni, please,” she begged.

“What got you so horny all of the sudden, babe?” Toni murmured into Cheryl’s ear, making the redhead shiver.

“Mm, I bet you look so sexy on a motorcycle, TT,” Cheryl groaned in response.

Toni let out a little chuckle. “You getting wet thinking of me on a motorcycle?”

If Cheryl was less needy for touch in this moment, she probably would’ve made a comment about how they were both really wet, because they were in the  _ shower _ . But as it was, she was in desperate need for Toni’s touch. “Yes, TT, please can you fuck me?”

Toni hummed, lowering her lips to Cheryl’s neck as her fingers finally ventured in between Cheryl’s legs. The redhead immediately shuddered as Toni teased her clit, and then, when Toni finally began giving her actual relief, Cheryl’s breathing picked up even more, and she couldn’t think of anything other than Toni fucking her.

Toni continued working against Cheryl’s clit, her free hand groping her boobs, and Cheryl finally threw her head back and let loose a loud cry of pleasure as she came. As she came down from her high, she relaxed against the shower wall, breathing heavily. Toni carefully pulled out of her, leaning back a little to look at Cheryl’s face. “You’re so beautiful when you come, babe.”

Cheryl felt a blush come to her cheeks, and she didn’t even try to hide it. “Thanks,” she murmured. “We should actually shower, we need to wake up early in the morning.”

Toni pouted. “Fine, but you owe me.”

“Um, excuse me, I made you come  _ three _ times last night and—”

“Okay, okay,” Toni interrupted, chuckling. “Come on then, Bombshell, let’s clean up.”

* * *

Toni and Cheryl settled into the seats of Veronica’s car the next morning, Cheryl taking the driver’s side. Toni promised she would drive back that night, because since Cheryl knew the way, she should be the one to drive there. “You ready?” Toni asked, squeezing Cheryl’s hand.

“As I’ll ever be, I suppose.”

The drive took a little over an hour. While they were in the city, they talked a lot and Toni helped navigate Cheryl through the traffic. As they exited the city, Cheryl began to tell Toni a bit about Riverdale. It was a small town, pretty much everyone knew everyone. That was another one of the reasons that the redhead hated being home—everyone knew her as the girl with the dead twin brother.

According to Cheryl, most of them would also know her as the HBIC of Riverdale High, the head cheerleader who wreaked havoc whenever she could. If Toni tried hard enough, she could picture it. But despite all of the stories Cheryl had ever told her about her time living in Riverdale, Toni could never really picture Cheryl being as terrible as she said she was. Could she picture Cheryl being snarky, with sharp comebacks and walking with confidence wherever she went? Of course. But just being straight up mean? She was glad that the Cheryl she knew didn’t give her that sort of vibe. Of course, Toni knew that however Cheryl had been in high school had been a direct result of the way her parents treated her and the loss of her brother. And even if Cheryl didn’t know it at the time, and didn’t say it now, Toni knew that she must’ve known  _ deep _ down that she was into girls, and suppressing that would cause anyone to be harsh to the world.

When they were on the outskirts of Riverdale, Cheryl became silent. Toni could feel the stress radiating off of her girlfriend. She reached over to and placed her hand on Cheryl’s thigh, rubbing her thumb over her pants calmingly. She felt Cheryl relax a little, and Cheryl flashed her a small, grateful smile.

They reached the main part of town quickly after that, still sitting in silence, and Toni looked around outside the window. There were teens out and about—it was winter break, after all—but other than that, nothing was really happening. Toni was used to city life, whether that was living in the bad parts of the city where sketchy sounds could always be heard, or the better parts, where the sounds of traffic could always be heard. This place felt so… quiet.

Cheryl drove them straight to the hospital, which was a decent size, but not huge. They parked in visitor’s parking, and as they got out of the car and started inside, Toni offered Cheryl her hand. She gave the redhead a gentle smile, wanting her to know that she didn’t have to take it, but Cheryl took a deep breath and then accepted her hand.

So they walked hand in hand into the hospital to see Cheryl’s father.

They walked up to the desk, and Cheryl cleared her throat to get the attention of the man sitting at the desk. “Hello, I’m here to see Clifford Blossom.”

He looked up at her. “Do you know what room he’s in?”

“No,” Cheryl answered flatly. The man just nodded and began to type into his computer.

“Oh,” he said in surprise, “looks like you just missed him. He was discharged early this morning. He should be home by now.”

Cheryl’s face paled, and Toni tightened her hold on her hand. “Okay,” Toni said to the man, “thank you.” He nodded, and Toni guided Cheryl back out of the hospital. “Hey, babe, it’s going to be okay.”

Cheryl nodded stiffly. “If my father was sent home this morning, my mother will undoubtedly be home as well…”

“Cheryl,” Toni said, facing her girlfriend directly and meeting her eyes, “you are like, the strongest person that I know. Okay? I know that you hate your mother and I know that she makes you feel small and alone, but you’re not. Okay? I’m here, and I’ll be there next to you the whole time. But… if you don’t want to go, we’ll skip it, okay? If he’s discharged, that means he’s better, right? Then it isn’t life or death anymore…”

Cheryl let out a breath. “We won’t know until we speak to him. I’m sure the people here won’t tell us anything about it.”

“So you want to go see him?”

“We are already here…”

Toni nodded. “Come on then. I’ll drive, tell me where to go.”

Cheryl directed Toni toward the north edge of town, where they drove onto a long, curvy driveway, up to a huge, terrifying looking mansion. “This is Thornhill,” Cheryl said, “the house my family lives in. They have another house a little ways west, but they usually use that for when relatives visit.” It sounded like Cheryl was simply reciting what she knew in efforts to not seem completely distressed, but Toni knew that she was.

So as they parked and got out of the car, Toni gave Cheryl’s hand a squeeze before going to let go. To Toni’s surprise, though, Cheryl didn’t let her release her hand, and as they approached the front door, their hands were intertwined.

“You can do this, babe,” Toni promised.

Cheryl nodded, reached for the doorbell, and rang it. It took about a minute for someone to get to the door, and then it finally swung open to reveal and older woman with dark red hair, red lipstick, and who was wearing an expensive looking black dress that no normal person would be wearing in the middle of the day. “Cheryl,” the woman said coldly, looking only at Cheryl and ignoring that Toni was even there. “I knew you would come  _ crawling _ back here eventually.”

“Actually, mother,” Cheryl responded, just as coldly, “I am here to see my father. We went to the hospital, and they said he had been discharged this morning.”

Cheryl’s mother made a noise of discontent, stepping back and letting them step into the house. Toni immediately looked around, simultaneously in awe and also terrified of the creepy, Victorian style decoration everywhere. “And who is  _ this _ , Cheryl? You know that we don’t let  _ vagabonds _ into this house.”

Toni furrowed her eyebrows a little, but tried to ignore the disgust in Penelope Blossom’s voice. “My name is Toni Topaz.”

“And  _ why _ is she here?” Penelope demanded, still looking at Cheryl and not at Toni.

“Because, mother, she offered to be my emotional support during this trip,” Cheryl answered in annoyance, “now, could you just show us where father is?”

Penelope finally eyed Toni, giving her a look that was far from friendly, and then began walking down the hallway. Cheryl squeezed Toni’s hand and they started following Penelope. They entered a massive bedroom, with a four post wooden bed covered in a black, white, and red bedding set that matched with the rest of the décor in the room. Laying in the bed with a tray on his lap was a man that Toni could only assume was Clifford, Cheryl’s dad.

“Father,” Cheryl said in nervous greeting. “I am happy to see that you are out of the hospital. Betty and Polly made it sound like you were on death’s doorstep.”

Clifford let out a little puff of air. “Well, it looked that way for a while. But thankfully, modern medicine pull through.”

“As long as he takes it easy from now on,” Penelope added, “he will be fine. Which, frankly, I am still appalled that you attempted to do any work on this house. That is what the  _ help _ is for.”

“The grounds men did a terrible job fixing the roof,” Clifford argued, “and sometimes, if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.” Penelope rolled her eyes, and Clifford looked back at Cheryl. “So, why are you really here, Cheryl?”

“What do you mean?” Cheryl demanded. “I came to see you, at the request of my cousins. That is the only reason I am here.”

“Don’t lie, girl,” Clifford snapped, “you’re here for money. You rejected us, refused to come home for so long, and now you’re so desperate that you’ve come crawling back.”

“ _ I _ did not reject you, although I should have,” Cheryl argued. “ _ You _ refused to support me, and so I did what I had to do. I learned that phrase from you, father, don’t you remember? All of those times that you  _ did what you had to do _ ?”

Clifford’s face became red with anger, and suddenly, Penelope was practically pushing Toni and Cheryl out of the bedroom. “How dare you come here and attack your poor father who has  _ just _ come out of the hospital!” Penelope hollered. “And you bring this filthy vermin into our home as well?”

“Whoa,” Toni said in offense without thinking, but it didn’t seem like Penelope or Cheryl noticed that she’d spoken.

“Do  _ not _ speak about Toni that way,” Cheryl demanded, her voice quiet but intense as she took a small step closer to her mother.

Penelope looked between her daughter and Toni, her eyes eventually landing on their intertwined hands, and she sighed. “Oh Cheryl. I always knew that there was something wrong and perverted about you.”

Toni’s jaw dropped as Cheryl said, “Excuse me?”

“I knew that you had no capability of love thanks to your odd behavior as a child and your growing anger at the world. But I didn’t think it would cause you to become  _ deviant _ in this way. Dear girl, you know there are places where they can make you  _ right _ ,” Penelope said. Cheryl looked taken aback by the words coming out of her mother’s mouth, but Toni wasn’t going to sit by and listen to anything like this.

“Excuse me, Mrs. Blossom, you have no right to speak to Cheryl that way. She doesn’t live under this roof anymore, I won’t let you torment her anymore. There is  _ nothing _ wrong with her, and I feel sorry for you that you can’t see how incredible she really is. Honestly, I have no idea where she even got it from. Are you sure she’s your daughter?” Toni snapped.

Penelope let out a fake laugh. “Oh, you poor girl. Once you’ve been with my Cheryl long enough, you will realize how incapable she is of loving you or anyone. She will disappoint you, as she disappointed me, her father, and her brother.”

“How  _ dare _ you say  _ anything _ about JJ!” Cheryl exclaimed suddenly. “If anyone in this wretched family would be proud of who I’ve become, it would be him. And we both know that the only reason you are so determined to believe that I am incapable of love is because you want me to be like  _ you _ . You want to not be the only one who feels  _ empty _ . Bad news,  _ mumsy _ ¸ but you truly are alone. You are angry that I’ve grown out of this loveless family, and found love somewhere else—while  _ you _ will always be stuck here.”

“That is not—”

“Don’t waste your breath,” Cheryl interrupted, “because I don’t care. I don’t care about you or father. And why should I? You’ve never cared about me. And so, it is without any remorse that I say  _ goodbye _ , mother. Forever.”

Cheryl began to pull Toni back toward the front door, and as they started to leave, Penelope shouted, “You’ll be back, you ungrateful child! You will come crawling back!”

“Only in your nightmares!” Cheryl called back at her, and then they exited the house and hurried to the car. Once they were seated, Cheryl immediately let out a breath of relief, and then a laugh. “Oh my god, did that just happen?”

“Uh, yes, it definitely did,” Toni confirmed.

“Hurry, drive,” Cheryl said, “before she tries to come out here and say anything else.” Toni obeyed, turning the car around and starting off of the property. “Wow. I can’t believe that I just did that.”

“I can,” Toni said with a smile, “you’re a badass, Cheryl. Of course you have the strength to stand up to your mother.”

“You don’t understand, TT,” Cheryl said, sounding so proud of herself as she continued, “I didn’t freeze up! I didn’t let her catch me off guard. And it was because of you. Thank you for stepping in to defend me.”

“Of course. I told you I wouldn’t let her talk to you like that.”

Cheryl let out another sigh, relaxing into her chair. “I’m never coming back here. Not ever. Not even if they die and end up passing on all of their things to me as their only heir. I’ll just sell it all. I’ll never come back here.”

Toni wasn’t completely sure that he believed her girlfriend, but there was no point in arguing, so she just smiled. “You never have to come back here, Cher.”

“Never,” Cheryl agreed, smiling happily and looking so content. It filled Toni’s heart with joy, and then she suddenly remembered something that had almost slipped her mind during all of the chaos.

“Oh hey, by the way… did I hear something about how you’ve found love somewhere?” Toni asked, biting the inside of her lip.

Redness came to Cheryl’s cheeks. “It just came out,” she said softly. “TT… you must know that I am falling for you. So fast.”

Toni smiled. “I’m falling for you too, Cher. Really fast.”

And with that, they headed back into town to meet up with Betty.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Awww so cute!! I think in writing this story, I realized that confrontation is like, fun to write? LOL. Let's just say in my next Choni story, there's going to be a lot more angst and confrontation than this story. Maybe I'm reaching a new level of fanfic writer? I guess it's about time, after uh almost 8 years of writing fanfic. Wait, is that right??? WTF! I started writing fanfiction in December of 2012, so I guess it's more like 7 years right now, but STILL. Damn. I'm getting so old??? Seriously y'all, I turn 21 this year and I'm going to graduate with my BACHELOR'S in COLLEGE in December! WTF!!  
> On another note, the past few days have been kind of crazy. Probably won't get into it because it's kind of personal but basically a lot of shit happened and there were ups and downs and I cried a lot lol. BUT, as of last night, things are officially getting better, if not better already, so I'm trying to start off the day on a positive note!  
> Also, my girlfriend is maybe going to start reading my new Choni story soon... which means it's very close to all of you getting to read it.... ;D  
> On that note, I will see you all with the next update on Sunday!! <3 Don't forget to keep up with me on Twitter @BrittzandTana until then! Have a great weekend everyone! x


	18. The Settlement

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cheryl and Toni stop by the Coopers' house, and settle some things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey friends! Happy update day! Sorry this chapter is a little short, we're getting real close to wrapping things up and I just felt like the next two chapters needed to stand separate from this one. So it's a little on the shorter side.  
> Thank you all for your kind words on the previous chapter <3 I didn't get the chance to reply to comments, sorry! I'll make sure and reply to the ones on this chapter <3  
> Enjoy!x

“So, you ended up having to see your mom?” Betty wondered as the she, Toni, and Cheryl sat down in the Coopers’ living room. Apparently, the rest of the family wasn’t home yet, since their dinner wasn’t until later, but Cheryl was perfectly happy only seeing Betty for now.

“Yes,” Cheryl confirmed, “and I won.”

“You won?” Betty asked in confusion.

“I told her I’m never coming back,” Cheryl clarified, “and that things she says about me are wrong. I won, because I no longer let her control me, not how I feel, not what I do. I’m free of her.”

“It was pretty badass,” Toni confirmed.

Betty looked confused. “Wait, what exactly  _ happened _ ?”

“They were attacking me from the moment I entered the house. And if that wasn’t enough, my hideous mother also began to attack  _ Toni _ . Which, of course, was unacceptable,” Cheryl snapped. Toni suddenly became hyperaware of the fact that Betty didn’t yet know that she and Cheryl were dating, and she didn’t know what to say.

“Yeah, she was definitely being…”

“A bitch,” Cheryl finished for her, nodding firmly. “So, cousin Betty, this will probably be my last time in Riverdale.”

“Really?” Betty asked, frowning. “Like, forever?”

Cheryl sighed. “For as long as I can stay away. There isn’t anything for me here anymore. Plus… I finally have an actual  _ life _ for myself. And all of you should be happy that I have people to spend the holidays with, and that I have a job and can support myself.”

“Of course we are happy for you, Cheryl, just… it’s so weird, thinking that you’ll never come back to Riverdale,” Betty admitted. “I mean, I guess you’re not the only one who disappeared and doesn’t wanna come back. But… I don’t know, your family like, owns this place.”

“I have no desire to be a part of my family anymore. I keep their name for now, because I like it. But I don’t support what my family stands for or the things they do. You could never understand, Betty—you have a mother who loves you. My mother has never loved me,” Cheryl explained, “and you cannot argue with me on that, I know that Polly would try, but  _ no one _ has ever heard the way my mother would speak to me when we were alone.”

Toni couldn’t help but ask, “It was even worse than how she talked to you today?”

Cheryl nodded sadly. “Oh, yes, TT. It was.”

“TT,” Betty said curiously, changing the subject suddenly, “that’s a cute nickname.”

Toni opened her mouth to say something, glancing over at Cheryl, and dark eyes widened as she realized she made a mistake. Cheryl let out a little breath. “Betty, you should know… Toni and I are dating.”

Toni smiled at hearing that—it was the first time she’d heard Cheryl say anything like that to someone else, and it was so nice to hear. Especially after the last time they were with Betty together. Betty’s eyes widened a little at hearing the news, but she didn’t look angry. “Oh, congratulations,” she said finally. “Were you dating when Polly and I visited?”

Cheryl and Toni nodded at the same time. “Yes,” Cheryl said, “but… I was worried about telling Polly, so I didn’t want to tell either of you that day.”

“Why were you worried about telling Polly?” Betty asked, but then it immediately seemed to dawn on her. “Oh, you didn’t want her telling Penelope.”

“Correct,” Cheryl confirmed. “But… now, my mother knows, and she hates me even more, and she wishes she could send me away to get  _ cured _ . Thankfully, I’m now rid of her.”

“I’m so sorry that she said that,” Betty apologized sincerely. “I don’t know what Polly sees in your mom. I knew she was a bitch, but… I guess, just hearing what Polly said about her, I never really thought she was as bad as you made it seem.”

“She’s good a fooling those who she wants to fool. Even… even Jason, he was always the receiver of her love. I was never that person.” At the mention of Jason, Betty looked worriedly at Toni, as if wondering if she knew. Toni just gave Betty a sad smile, and the girl redirected her gaze to Cheryl again.

“I’m sorry, Cheryl,” Betty apologized.

Cheryl smiled genuinely at her cousin. “Thank you.”

Betty took in a breath, and then smiled. “So… how long have you been dating?”

“Unofficially… almost two months?” Toni said thoughtfully. “Officially, about a month.”

“Oh wow,” Betty said, grinning. “Cheryl… when did you know that you…”

“That I’m gay?” Cheryl asked. “Not until recently. After that guy I dated, the one I broke up with during the week of fall performances.”

“Oh damn, that is recent,” Betty agreed. “Well, hey, I’m happy that you’re finding yourself and everything. And that you’re in a happy relationship.” Betty smiled at Toni, and the pink haired girl smiled back.

Suddenly, the door opened, and two other people walked into the house. One of them was Polly, but the other was an older blonde—their mother, Toni assumed. “Oh, Cheryl! I didn’t know you were here already,” the woman said. They were both carrying grocery bags, and Betty jumped up to help with them.

“Hi Ms. Cooper,” Cheryl returned, standing as well. Toni followed suit, and they followed the three blondes into the kitchen, where the bags were all set down. Then, Ms. Cooper turned and smiled at them.

“Oh! And who’s this?” she wondered, looking at Toni. She looked mostly confused, which was way better than Cheryl’s mother’s reaction to seeing her earlier.

“I’m Toni Topaz,” Toni introduced herself, extending a hand.

“My girlfriend,” Cheryl added quickly, and Toni saw Polly’s eyes widen.

“Oh,” Ms. Cooper said in surprise, but she didn’t look disappointed. “Well, it’s very nice to meet you, Toni. My name is Alice Cooper, feel free to call me Alice. And you too, Cheryl, ever since Hal and I got a divorce, I just don’t like the sound of Ms.  _ Cooper _ .”

“So, Cheryl,” Polly said stiffly, “did you see Cliff this morning?”

“Oh yes, we did,” Cheryl confirmed, “and we saw my mother. My father was discharged early this morning. And just so you know, I’ve officially disowned my parents. And, if and when Betty visits me in the city, I would greatly appreciate it if you would only come if you agree to not mention my mother.”

Alice looked at Cheryl in surprise. “Wait, you disowned them?”

“I wouldn’t like to get into it, but let’s just say, they deserved it.”

Alice grunted a little, and Toni thought it was in annoyance, but then she said, “Serves them right. Pretty much everything they do is at someone else’s expense.” Alice kept rambling a little about Cheryl’s parents, so Toni leaned a little closer to her girlfriend to whisper a question.

“She doesn’t like your parents?”

Cheryl smirked a little. “My mother slept with her ex-husband.”

Toni’s eyes widened, once again noting the fact that there was somehow a familial relationship between the two families, and how the Blossom family really was fucked up.

Polly ended up staying mostly silent the whole time that dinner was being prepared—she simply helped her mother and Betty and said nothing. Meanwhile, Alice, Betty, Cheryl, and Toni actually did keep up on a conversation, and it wasn’t all terrible. And then when their food was ready and they all sat down to eat, Toni and Cheryl thanked them for the meet, and then they all ate with minimal conversation interrupting them.

After the dinner, Cheryl noted how they should probably get going so that they didn’t get back to the city too late. Alice and Betty nodded in agreement, giving them both a hug goodbye.

“And Cheryl,” Betty said, “I know you don’t want to visit Riverdale anymore, but if you ever do, our house is always open.”

Cheryl nodded. “You’re always welcome to visit in the city. Just… please let me know in advance…” She glanced at Polly. “And give me a list of who will be with you.” Polly’s eyes narrowed into a glare, but Cheryl just ignored her. Toni tried not to snicker at the exchange.

“Drive safe you guys,” Alice said with a smile, and Betty nodded in agreement.

A few minutes later, Toni was sat in the driver’s seat of Veronica’s car, driving them out of Riverdale. She looked over at her girlfriend. “How are you after all of that?”

“Better than I expected, in all honesty,” Cheryl admitted. “I actually stood up to my mother, I came out to Betty, Polly, and Alice. I’m… I’m done letting the people in this town hurt me—in any way.”

Toni smiled. “I’m glad.”

“Thank you for coming with me, TT. I couldn’t have done all this without you,” Cheryl said softly.

“Of course, babe. I’m here for you. You know that.”

“I know… but I’ve never had that before. And I know that you know that, but maybe after this trip, you know it even better. I lived in that horrible home for eighteen years. The only time I could escape was school, and I grabbed for power because I wanted some semblance of control… I…”

“I know, Cher,” Toni insisted, “I know. And I know having someone really there for you is new to you. But I’m going to make sure that it never goes away again, okay?”

Cheryl smiled. “Thank you.”

* * *

Toni and Cheryl made it back to Cheryl’s apartment almost two hours later, and immediately ordered a pizza—already starting to get hungry again thanks to the drive, and knowing that their early dinner was not going to hold them over for the whole evening.

They also poured two glasses of wine, and curled up on Cheryl’s bed, waiting for the pizza delivery as they sipped their drinks.

“So…” Toni said, dragging out the word. “Is there anything else you wanted to talk about… in regards to today?”

Cheryl sighed. “No,” she stated, “I’m done thinking about today. I want to move on from all of this.”

“Okay,” Toni said with a nod, taking a sip of her wine, “then we won’t talk about it.”

Cheryl smiled gratefully, leaning into her girlfriend and taking a long drink from her glass. Her mind was all over the place, thinking about her mother and Betty’s family and everything that happened today. She was grateful that her father was doing better, and despite how terribly the day had gone, she was glad to have seen them one last time, to tell them how she felt and fully explain why she would now be out of their lives.

Suddenly, Toni was speaking again, “You excited for the winter performance?”

Cheryl felt a smile immediately come to her face as she remembered that winter performance was the next week. It was always a bit hectic, because it came right after Christmas, so some classes won’t have met in a week. But all day Monday would be spent rehearsing before the performance. It was not mandatory rehearsal until the evening, but most people would end up there. “Yeah, I’m really excited,” Cheryl confirmed.

“I’m most excited to see the Pixies dance.”

Cheryl sat up and turned her head so that she was looking at her girlfriend. “Yeah? You’re not excited to perform?” She lifted an eyebrow in challenge.

“Of course I am,” Toni assured her, “I’m just  _ most _ excited to watch you dance.”

“You don’t have to wait for a performance to watch me dance, TT,” Cheryl teased her. “I’ll dance for you whenever you want.”

“Oh  _ really _ ?” Toni asked. “I was unaware of this.”

Cheryl chuckled. “Well, now you know, mon chéri.”

“God, are you just trying to make me horny, Cher? Pizza isn’t even here yet.”

Cheryl grinned, taking Toni’s wine glass and setting both glasses on her nightstand. She hadn’t been planning on teasing Toni before their food arrived, but the opportunity was presenting itself so obviously.

She straddled herself over Toni’s lap, dark eyes watching her every movement. “I told you, I need to be distracted from everything that happened today. Et  _ toi _ ma chérie, tu es ma distraction préférée.”

Toni moaned, her hands coming to Cheryl’s waist, slipping underneath her shirt and pressing the pads of her fingers into Cheryl’s skin. Cheryl hummed, lowering her lips to Toni’s neck. She began nipping and sucking at Toni’s neck, the pink haired girl moaning. Toni’s hands slipped lower and around to Cheryl’s ass, squeezing it firmly and pulling Cheryl’s center closer to her own.

Cheryl’s hands slid underneath Toni’s shirt and coming up to her bra enclosed boobs, squeezing them and playing with her nipples through the thin material of the bra. Toni grunted, and Cheryl could tell her hips were trying to wiggle underneath Cheryl. The redhead tutted at her girlfriend, taking her hands away from Toni’s boobs and causing the girl to whimper.

“We have to wait until after pizza, don’t we, TT?” Toni huffed in frustration, but Cheryl distracted her by pressing their lips together. Her hands went back to teasing Toni underneath her shirt, but over the bra, and Toni was clearly getting more and more frustrated.

And then, as expected, there was a knock on the door.

Cheryl immediately pulled off of her girlfriend. “I guess it’s time for a pizza break,” she said with a teasing grin.

“You are ruthless,” Toni muttered. Cheryl just laughed, grabbing her wallet to go and pay for the pizza.

Toni was definitely the distraction that she needed tonight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, if you follow me on Twitter @BrittzandTana, you may have seen that I will be canceling sneak peeks and early updates via my Patreon after this story ends (Feb 3rd), but I will of course still be posting my stories onto Ao3! So if you saw that and got worried, do not be, nothing will be changing for my content on Ao3. When I have a story to post, I will be posting it!  
> Also if you follow me on Twitter, you may have seen that I am going to try and start making YouTube videos again? Lol so if that's something that interests you, make sure to follow me on Twitter to see my upcoming return video. If you don't know, I made like 6 videos or something in 2017 and then gave up because I was too busy lol. And I can't promise that if I am able to start making them that they will be at all regular. But I've been wanting to get back to it, so hopefully I will be able to do that.  
> I hope you all had a lovely weekend, and I hope that this week is a good one! I'm hoping to be productive as hell this week! I already kicked it off by cleaning my room and organizing my kitchen today, and now I've got a lot of homework to get done and other shit to do! So wish me luck <3 I will see you all on Thursday! Thank you all so much for reading! x


	19. The Friendsmas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Christmastime with Toni, Cheryl, and their friends!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good morning, friends! Happy update day!  
> This chapter is the SECOND TO LAST chapter of this story!! Omg, that's so crazy! I won't get all sappy on you guys yet, though, don't worry haha.  
> I have some more to say in the bottom note, but for now, enjoy this chapter of Choni fluff <3 xx

Toni squished her phone between her shoulder and her ear as she tried to pick up the wrapped boxes and pretty bags she had around her. “I promise you, Veronica has enough wine, babe,” she said into the phone. “If you want to grab one, that’s fine, but no need to grab anything expensive, okay?”

“I know,” Cheryl said defensively, “I did that last time because that was my first time really meeting everyone. I’ll just get a ten dollar bottle on my way over. And maybe I’ll grab some Christmas cookies.”

“Okay, sounds good.” Toni finally had all of the gifts in her arms, and she glanced over at her apartment door, and then down at her full hands, and sighed. “Okay, I’m going to have to let you go. I need to have full mobility to get all of the presents down to the street so I can get a cab.”

“Okay, TT,” Cheryl said, “I’ll see you there.”

“See you,” Toni replied, hanging up and slipping her phone into her leather jacket’s pocket.

It was Christmas Eve, the day after their Riverdale trip, and the start of Christmas festivities at the Lodge apartment. Toni, Sweet Pea, Fangs, Kevin, and Cheryl were all going over to Veronica’s for Christmas Eve dinner, drinks, and partying. Then, they were all going to crash at Veronica’s and exchange gifts on Christmas morning. It had been Toni, Veronica, Fangs, and Sweet Pea’s regular Christmas celebration for years now, and various significant others had been included over the years, but this was the first year where Toni felt like everyone who would be there were already her family. Kevin was maybe the most on the edge, but it seemed like he and Fangs were getting pretty serious, so she gave him the benefit of the doubt.

She barely made it down to the street with all of the gifts in her arms, and had to set some down to wave down a cab, but then she loaded up in one of the yellow cars and gave the cabbie Veronica’s address.

She texted Veronica when she was almost there, and her best friend met her down on the street to help her get the gifts up to her apartment. “Why are there more gifts here then there are people?” Veronica asked in confusion.

“I got something for everyone, and so did Cheryl, and she wrapped all of them at my apartment—except for her gift to me, she kept that one somewhere hidden in her apartment—so they were all at my place,” Toni explained.

“Well where’s Cheryl?”

“She had to go to the DHS to pick up the final set list for next week,” Toni answered. “She was supposed to get it yesterday, but obviously we were out of town. So she went to get it, and she’s making one more stop before she comes over.”

They made it up to Veronica’s apartment, and as the dark haired girl opened the door, Toni’s eyes immediately caught on all of the Christmas decorations that were now up. Colorful lights lined the TV stand and the walls around the dining table, small poinsettias sat around the kitchen and in the center of the dining table, and a fully decorated Christmas tree stood in the corner of the living room. To top it off, random other decorative things, like little Santa statues, were also scattered around the apartment.

“Wow, I didn’t expect your decorating to be so thorough this year, considering how none of this was up on Sunday,” Toni admitted.

Veronica chuckled. “Yeah, me neither. But I found out that Sweet Pea had a random box of some decorations buried in his closet—he has no idea where he got them—so I took them and we spent all day Monday decorating. It’s nice, right?”

“Yeah, it’s definitely very festive,” Toni confirmed, and they fully entered the apartment, starting to bring the presents over to the tree.

Sweet Pea suddenly emerged from the bedroom, dressed in slacks and a red button down. Toni immediately snickered. “Did you let her dress you, Sweets?”

Sweet Pea opened his mouth to respond, but Veronica interrupted with a, “Hey! He looks good!”

“I didn’t say he didn’t,” Toni said, holding back a chuckle. “I just didn’t know Sweets owned a red button down…”

“I told her I’d wear it for Christmas  _ only _ ,” Sweet Pea insisted. “This shirt will never see the light of day for any other time of the year.”

Veronica shrugged. “I can’t  _ make _ him wear anything,” she said to Toni, “but yes, I did buy him the outfit.”

Toni grinned. “Very festive, Sweets.”

“Shut up.”

“Man, I don’t think I could even manage to buy clothes for Cheryl,” Toni said, “I don’t even know where she finds half of the stuff she wears.”

“What did you get her for Christmas?” Veronica wondered.

“I found this really cute necklace with a little dancer wearing red on it, so I got that. And a couple of bath bombs and some bubble bath,” Toni answered. “I figured I shouldn’t get too much more complicated than that.”

“I bet she’ll love the necklace,” Veronica commented.

“Yeah, it’s very  _ her _ .”

With the presents now under the tree, Toni volunteered herself to help Veronica with whatever was left for dinner, and Sweet Pea came into the kitchen to help as well. And pretty soon, Fangs, Kevin, and Cheryl were all arriving.

Fangs and Kevin lugged in their presents, and Cheryl arrived a few minutes later, a bottle of wine and a box of cookies in a grocery bag in one hand, and a wrapped present in the other. “Hey, Cheryl!” Fangs said as he let her in. “You only got Toni a present? Lame.”

Cheryl laughed lightly. “Toni brought over the rest of my presents already.”

“Oh good, I was going to have to veto your invitation,” Fangs joked.

“Don’t worry, babe,” Toni called, “I would’ve beat him up if he tried.”

“I could take you, Topaz,” Fangs insisted, as Cheryl walked into the apartment, setting down the grocery bag and going to set the gift under the tree.

“Sorry, but no you couldn’t,” Toni argued, “and before you try to defend your argument, let me remind you that you actually  _ have _ tried to take me, and how did that end?”

Sweet Pea immediately let out a loud laugh. “Oh yeah, man, she’s totally right. Junior year of high school. It hurts my nose just thinking about what yours looked like after that fight.”

Kevin and Cheryl were looking at the two of them in shock. “She beat you up?” Kevin asked in shock.

“Well…” Fangs started, ashamed.

“Yes,” Toni answered with a proud grin. “But, to be fair, he got in a few good punches too.”

“Why were you fighting?” Cheryl asked incredulously.

“Let’s just say, Fangs was in a bit of denial still about his sexuality, and I said something that triggered him, but he did a bad job of expressing that he was hurt by my statement. In fact, his expression was in the form of fully demeaning my sexuality, and uh… well, I had a short temper during that time of my life.”

“We both fucked up,” Fangs offered. “We made up pretty much right after.”

“Yeah, while we were driving you to the  _ hospital _ ,” Veronica snapped. “It was times like those that I wondered how I was such good friends with the three of you.”

“You wanted to see past the gangster in all of us,” Toni teased.

Veronica rolled her eyes. “Gang aside, you were all just so dramatic about everything.”

Sweet Pea snickered. “Coming from you, babe?”

“Okay, fair enough,” Veronica agreed, shaking her head. “Come on, all of you, help me set the table.”

The dinner consisted of a turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, bread rolls, and salad. It was pretty traditional, but Toni knew that they all appreciated some semblance of the tradition that most of them missed out on in some way while they were growing up.

Kevin looked at the spread of food in front of them. “So, you guys do this big meal on Christmas Eve. What about tomorrow?”

“We usually split off and do our own thing after Christmas morning. I have things for brunch tomorrow, after we open presents, but then the Lodge Christmas ends. Usually, my day is completed with binge watching Christmas movies and getting ready for Boxing Day shopping,” Veronica answered.

“Can we eat now?” Toni interrupted them, frowning. “I’m hungry.”

“What are you, twelve?” Sweet Pea teased.

“Oh come on,” Toni said with an eyeroll.

Veronica shook her head at her best friend and boyfriend. “Of course, everyone go ahead and start serving. And we have like, a bunch of wine.”

They all filled their plates and their glasses and began to eat, talking as well and thanking Veronica for cooking. Sweet Pea briefly asked Toni and Cheryl how their trip to Riverdale had gone, but Cheryl gave just the short and vague answer: “It was eventful, and we will not be going back that.” Despite probably intriguing everyone at the table, they all seemed to get the message that Cheryl did not want to share anymore about it, and the topic was abandoned.

After dinner, they all helped put the food away, took a round of shots, and all traveled to the living room to turn on a Christmas movie. However, pretty much no one paid any attention to it, except for anytime a character said Christmas, at which point they all took a drink of their various alcoholic beverages.

Mostly, they all just talked. Toni had always loved how easy it was to talk to and hang out with her friends, and how they could all joke around. And even now, with her two best friends dating each other, and she and Fangs both having significant others, nothing had changed. She appreciated how lucky she was to have a family of friends this great.

“So, you guys have your performances next week?” Fangs said, glancing at his boyfriend and all of the girls.

“Yes, we do,” Toni answered. “You better be at every one of them, Fogarty.”

Fangs rolled his eyes. “I’ll be at one at least, but I have a life, you know?”

“So do we,” Kevin defended, “and we have to be at all of them.”

“Don’t worry, Fangs,” Sweet Pea said, “I won’t be at all of them either.”

“How many are you going to?” Toni wondered.

He shrugged. “I’m definitely going Monday. And maybe Saturday—that’s the last one, right?”

“Right,” Cheryl, Veronica, Toni, and Kevin all answered together. Then they all laughed at the simultaneous reply.

“I’m excited to see you all dance,” Fangs said, “I haven’t seen Toni or Ronnie dance since their high school dance days.”

“Well, drop your expectations,” Veronica said, “because we aren’t as good as back then.”

“Is it true, Cheryl? Do they suck?” Sweet Pea asked, lifting an eyebrow at the redhead.

Cheryl blinked. “I didn’t know them in high school, how am I supposed to know if they’re any better?”

“That doesn’t matter, are they really any good? It’s a beginner class, right?” Sweet Pea’s voice was filled with a teasing tone that got eyerolls out of Veronica and Toni.

“They’re really good,” Cheryl promised. “Not professionals, of course, but they’re great.”

“Ooh, what about me, teach?” Kevin asked, giving her a bright smile.

Cheryl chuckled. “You’re also really good. But you have a lot more recent experience.”

“Yeah, so why are you in a beginner class, babe?” Fangs teased.

“Um, because I don’t usually do modern dance. I’m trained in  _ ballet _ .”

Toni snickered. “Oh, of course you are.”

“Hey, ballet is a great form of dance! Don’t look so amused!” Kevin snapped, but that just made Toni let out an actual laugh.

Cheryl rolled her eyes at her girlfriend. “I love ballet,” she stated, “I teach it every other season, too.”

“But the Pixies don’t do ballet,” Veronica stated for clarification, “or do you guys sometimes do it?”

“No, we don’t,” Cheryl confirmed. “Although, a lot of dance builds off of classic ballet, you know.” She was looking pointedly at Toni, who sighed.

“I wasn’t trying to insult ballet,” she insisted, “I was just laughing at the mental image of Kevin doing ballet, that’s it.”

“Men can do ballet,  _ Toni _ ,” Kevin said with a sniffle, feigning offense.

Toni rolled her eyes. “Alright, alright, I’m gonna shut up now.”

Sweet Pea laughed. “I think that’s probably for the best. You’re riling up the drama queens.”

“Excuse you,” Kevin said, getting a laugh out of everyone else.

They were all pretty drunk by the time the movie ended, so of course they scurried into the kitchen to start eating all of the holiday desserts that they had. Christmas cookies and a few kinds of pie were the majority of them, and they all filled up their stomachs before deciding that it was probably a good time to sleep now.

Veronica and Sweet Pea set up two air mattresses in the main area of the apartment—one in the living room, for Cheryl and Toni, and the other in between the kitchen and the dining room, for Fangs and Kevin. Once the bedding was all set up, Veronica let the four of them all use the bathroom and get ready for bed before she and Sweet Pea did. It was just after midnight when all of them were settled into their respective sleeping areas.

Fangs and Kevin could be heard whispering to each other across the room, but Toni and Cheryl couldn’t see them or even make out what the whispers were saying.

Toni looked through the darkness of the room at her girlfriend’s dark eyes. Before she could say anything, Cheryl whispered, “I can’t remember the last time I had this much fun for a holiday.”

Toni felt a smile appearing on her face. “I’m so glad you had fun tonight, Cher.” Cheryl looked like she wanted to say something else, but she just stared into Toni’s eyes. “Are you okay, babe?”

“I’m more than okay,” Cheryl whispered. “Just… I can’t believe how happy you make me Toni. And how much happier my life has gotten in the past few months. I know that you didn’t fix all of my problems, but ever since you’ve been in my life, I’ve felt strong enough to face them.”

“Cheryl,” Toni whispered, “you are the strongest person I know. I know that you would have stood up to your dance team and your parents without me there.”

“I know,” Cheryl insisted, “but I’m glad I did it by your side.”

Toni smiled. “Me too.”

“Thank you, TT. For everything.”

“You don’t have to thank me, but you’re welcome. Come on, babe, let’s go to sleep.”

They cuddled up together and let the pull of sleep take over.

* * *

“Wake up losers!” Sweet Pea shouted, jolting Cheryl awake, and Toni too, it seemed. They both began blinking and looking around the room.

“What the fuck?” Toni groaned.

“Did you have to yell?” Cheryl heard Veronica tut at Sweet Pea.

“No, but it was more fun,” Sweet Pea insisted.

Cheryl pulled herself into a sitting position even as Toni rolled over and pulled the blankets over her head. Cheryl chuckled, getting up despite her girlfriend. “Mind if I use the bathroom?” she asked their hosts.

“Go right ahead!” Veronica replied, and Cheryl hurried to go use it. She figured she’d rather be the first one of the four of them to use it so that she could be done with it.

After readying herself, she went back out into the main room to find that everyone—Toni included—was actually getting up. Toni trudged past the redhead to go to the bathroom, and Cheryl tried not to laugh at how tired she was acting.

She helped Veronica and Sweet Pea clean up the air mattresses and the bedding while everyone else took turns in the bathroom getting ready.

And once they were all ready, they sat around the living room and began passing presents to each other. Despite Toni’s slow awakening, as soon as she had a present in her hands, it was like a wave of energy hit her. “I fucking love Christmas,” she said.

They all started opening their presents, most of which were funny gifts. Like the t-shirts that Fangs got Veronica and Sweet Pea. Veronica’s said “I got him whipped” and Sweet Pea’s said “Whatever she says goes.” Veronica loved the shirts, but Sweet Pea just rolled his eyes, balled up some wrapping paper, and sent it flying into Fangs’ face.

When Cheryl opened Toni’s present, her eyes immediately caught on the sparkly necklace that held a pendant of a silver woman dancing in a red leotard. It was simple, yet beautiful, and Cheryl immediately loved it. “This is perfect,” she said to her girlfriend, who smiled in pride.

“I know it is,” she agreed. “Here, want me to put it on you?” Cheryl handed the chain to her girlfriend, who put it around her neck and clasped it quickly. Cheryl looked down at it on her. “It looks beautiful on you.”

Cheryl felt a blush rising to her cheeks, but she tried to hide it by opening the rest of the gift. It was some of her favorite bubble bath—the one she’d told Toni that she splurged on every now and then—in a big bottle, and multiple bath bombs. “Oh, TT. That’s so sweet, thank you.”

“I’m glad you like it,” Toni said with another proud grin.

“Open mine now,” Cheryl told her. The two of them were in their own world at this point, but as Toni searched for the gift from Cheryl, the redhead noted that the other couples were exchanging gifts now anyway. Toni finally found the box, and immediately began tearing open the wrapping paper and then the box.

Toni pulled out the stuff at the top of the box, which was some nice, new fishnets, and then Cheryl watched as her eyes landed on the little note Cheryl had put underneath them. It said “Shhh…” She knew that Toni would be confused, and when she looked up at Cheryl, the redhead just narrowed her eyes a little.

Toni silently peeked underneath the note, and Cheryl saw her eyes widen. Suddenly, Veronica asked, “Ooh, what’d she get you, Toni?”

Toni practically jumped at hearing the question. “Oh, some new fishnets!” Toni answered, grabbing the fishnets and covering the box with them.

“Those are cute,” Veronica commented. “They look pretty high quality.”

“Only the best for my TT,” Cheryl teased, and she definitely didn’t miss Toni’s blush.

She wasn’t sure that on one else noticed Toni being shy all of the sudden, but if anyone did, they didn’t notice.

After presents, they made eggs, bacon, and toast for brunch. Cheryl had fun chatting with everyone during the meal, but she was really excited to get to hear Toni’s reaction to the second part of her gift. By the dark-eyed looks she kept getting from her girlfriend, she was pretty sure that Toni was excited as well.

So when they finally wished everyone a Merry Christmas and left Veronica’s apartment with their presents in hand, Cheryl was ready to be alone with her girlfriend. They were headed to Toni’s apartment, and they had apparently made a silent agreement to not mention the present until they reached it.

As soon as they were in Toni’s apartment, the pink haired girl set down all her presents sans the one from Cheryl, opening it up completely and exposing the gift underneath the note. It was three different things actually, and Cheryl bit her lower lip and Toni looked through them.

Two sets of lingerie, one that was black in Toni’s size, and one that was red—in Cheryl’s size. The last thing was a red vibrator. “Oh my god, Cheryl, I can’t believe you gave this to me in front of everyone!” Toni squealed.

“Hey, no one saw or noticed,” Cheryl defended. “You like it though, don’t you?”

“Um, is that even a question?” Toni demanded. “I’d like it better, though, if you were wearing these.”

Cheryl grinned. “Well, give them to me.” She stepped closer and grabbed the red set, then walking past her girlfriend toward the bathroom. “You put on yours too.”

“Deal.”

They both changed into their lingerie, Cheryl looking at herself in the mirror and noting that she picked out the perfect set to accentuate her features. Feeling confident, she stepped out of the bathroom to find her girlfriend sitting on the bed, wearing her own set of lingerie and with the vibrator in hand. “I washed it,” the pink haired girl informed Cheryl.

“You did that very quickly,” Cheryl said in amusement.

“Yeah well, ever since I saw it and the lingerie this morning, all I can think about it fucking you with it.”

Cheryl lifted an eyebrow. “Oh yeah?”

“Yeah, so you better get over here and let me,” Toni growled, and Cheryl felt her body wake up, heat pooling at her center just at her girlfriend’s tone of voice. She immediately decided that she liked Toni being commanding like this.

Cheryl silently obeyed, coming over to the bed and standing next to where her girlfriend was seated. Toni’s hands immediately came to Cheryl’s waist, pulling the girl down onto the bed next to her and immediately straddling her and pushing her down flat on the bed. The smoothness of the action left Cheryl breathless, looking up at her girlfriend who was looking at her with desire in her eyes. She loved it when Toni looked at her like that.

Their lips joined as Toni’s hands explored Cheryl’s breasts and in between her thighs—over the lingerie. Cheryl couldn’t stand how close her girlfriend was to touching her without actually doing so, and she was desperate for Toni to touch her. “Toni,” she moaned, her hands grabbing Toni’s waist. Toni pulled their lips apart, sitting up.

“Scoot,” Toni commanded, pointing up the bed. The word was funny to hear said so seriously, but Cheryl was too horny to think about it. She scooted up the bed so that she was actually fully on it, and Toni crawled up after her. She grabbed the vibrator. It wasn’t very big, but it wasn’t tiny either.

Cheryl had never used any sort of vibrator or sex toy, not with herself, not with anyone. She was a little bit nervous, and Toni seemed to notice.

“Tell me if anything doesn’t feel good,” Toni instructed. “And tell me to stop if you need me to, okay?”

Cheryl nodded. “I will,” she promised.

Toni leaned down to kiss Cheryl, immediately distracting her from the newness of the experience. She heard the vibrator turn on, and then suddenly, the vibrating silicon toy was against her thigh. Somehow, just that was instantly stimulating, and her center thrust forward without her telling it to.

Toni chuckled. “Don’t worry, babe, I won’t tease you for  _ too _ long.”

“TT,” Cheryl whimpered, as Toni dragged the vibrator up Cheryl’s thigh, closer to her center. The closer it got to where she needed it, the more Cheryl couldn’t think of anything other than how badly she needed Toni to fuck her. “Please, Toni, please fuck me.”

“You’re not even undressed yet, baby,” Toni pointed out. She suddenly dropped her lips to the tops of Cheryl’s boobs—the part that was exposed—and sucked a few hickeys onto the skin, causing Cheryl to arch her back and release a loud moan.

“Then undress me,” Cheryl huffed out in frustration.

Toni didn’t take the suggestion, but rather brought the vibrator right against the fabric of Cheryl’s panties, right over her clit. Cheryl let out a sudden gasp, her nails digging into Toni’s hips as she felt minor relief spread through her body. “Does that feel good, baby girl?”

Cheryl couldn’t even form words as she moaned at the sensation and the pet name. She had never felt so ready to come  _ ever _ , and she desperately needed Toni to finish fucking her. “P-please, TT,” Cheryl begged, mustering the words as best as she could.

Toni suddenly pulled the vibrator away from the redhead, causing her to let out a little whimper, but then Toni was pulling off Cheryl’s panties. Cheryl could barely even follow what was going on, and then Toni’s mouth was on her clit, and all she knew was that she needed to come. The vibrator was reintroduced at some point, and combined with her girlfriend’s skilled tongue, she was close in a matter of seconds. Her hands had at some point become tangled in Toni’s pink hair, and she clenched it as she finally came, letting out a loud gasp and moan before finally relaxing into the sheets, her body shuddering slightly as the vibrator continued to stimulate her momentarily tired center.

Toni turned the device off, though, and then adjusted so that she was laying half on top of and half next to Cheryl, licking her lips clean as she settled into that position. “Did you like that, Bombshell?”

Cheryl let out a happy sigh. “Uh,  _ yes _ , TT. Obviously.”

Toni grinned. “I mean, I figured, but it doesn’t hurt to check in.” Cheryl chuckled.

“That was incredible. I can’t believe I’ve never owned a vibrator before.”

“How have you  _ never _ owned a vibrator before? How on Earth did you survive?” Toni wondered.

“My fingers had to get the job done when men couldn’t,” Cheryl answered. “But damn, I definitely wish I’d had one the past few years. I was shopping for your present last week, and I thought of the lingerie, and it led me to one of those sex toy sites… and I couldn’t help myself.”

Toni grinned. “Well, I’m glad you got it. It’s totally your vibe too. I don’t know how you managed to find a red one. They’re always pink and purple.”

“Yeah, I definitely got lucky with the color,” Cheryl said with a chuckle. “And I think it’s safe to say that I am also glad that I got it.”

Toni chuckled. “Merry Christmas, babe.”

“Merry Christmas, TT.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oooh, we love Choni sexy times ;D The last chapter is gonna be some more fluff and wrapping everything together in a big bow haha!  
> Soooo... my NEXT Choni fic is DONE! I finished it yesterday! It's 30 chapters, 138,000 words. It's the longest thing I've written since like 2016. I'm currently in the process of rereading it, to fix any obvious typos and hopefully fix any inconsistencies that may have happened, considering how long it is. The last chapter for TPIMS will be up on Sunday, so that means I'm planning on having the first chapter of the new story ready in ONE WEEK! I have no idea what to name the new one, hopefully it will come to me while I'm rereading it lol.  
> I actually do have some ideas for more Choni stories, too, which is such a good feeling! There's nothing better than finishing a story that you LOVED writing and still having ideas for new stories! Agh, I'm just so excited to be able to keep writing and posting for you guys!  
> On an unrelated note, I'm trying to get back to making YouTube videos! My channel is just called Tori Ann, but the link to my new video is on my Twitter @BrittzandTana. I'm trying to like, vlog my life? Lol if I get back into it enough I'll try to make some other more fun videos! But if you're into that, go ahead and check it out. Also, trying to make sure that all of my new videos are going to be captioned <3 xx  
> Alright, that's it from me today. I hope you all are excited for the final piece of this story <3 Thank you all for supporting me on this ride! I appreciate each and every one of you for spending any amount of time here, reading my story <3 Have a great weekend!


	20. The Ending

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time for the first Winter Performance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello friends! As I'm sure you all know, this is the final chapter of The Peace Inside My Soul <3 I want to thank you all so much for reading and supporting this story! You can see my sappy thank you in the bottom note, but for now, without further ado... here is the last chapter of this story <3 x

Toni was a mess.

It was noon on Monday, and Cheryl was already at DHS with the Pixies, rehearsing early so that those of the Pixies who were instructors would have the rest of the day to help their classes rehearse. Toni, Veronica, and Kevin had their call-time at two, and Toni was rushing around the city. She was supposed to grab lunch for her and Cheryl and get to DHS early so that they could eat a little of the food before rehearsal.

But Toni had sent Sweet Pea on one simple errand—go get flowers, a specific bouquet that Toni had picked out online, for Toni to give to Cheryl at the end of the show. It needed to be a surprise, so Sweet Pea was supposed to bring them with him to the show that evening, and Toni would go get them from him before the end of the show.

Of course, something had to ruin the plan. They were out of the bouquet that Toni had picked out, and Sweet Pea had no idea what flowers were a good idea, and Toni found herself taking a cab to the flower shop.

When she got there, she hurried inside and found her friend looking between different bouquets. “Finally,” he said when he saw her, “I can’t believe you tried to send me to do this. I don’t know anything about flowers.”

“There are so many different bouquets, you couldn’t just get me a replacement one?” Toni demanded.

“I couldn’t remember which flowers were in the bouquet you wanted, only the name of it, and they don’t have it!” Sweet Pea defended himself. “So I couldn’t even look for a similar one.”

“Did you ask the store clerk?” Toni demanded.

“Yes, but it’s like, her first day and she has no idea what anything is,” Sweet Pea answered. “Come on, you’re in a rush right? Pick some damn flowers so I can go get lunch. Oh, and tell me which ones I should get for Veronica.”

Toni sighed, rolling her eyes and looking around the flower shop for a few minutes. Finally, she selected a simple bouquet of white lilies and red roses. “This will work for Cheryl. As for Veronica…” She looked around a little more, and selected a bouquet of blue and white roses. “Does this work?”

Sweet Pea shrugged. “Yeah, probably.”

“God you’re clueless. Okay. Well do you mind paying and then telling me how much I need to pay you back? I need to run back across town to pick up lunch before I can go to rehearsal.”

“Yeah, yeah, for sure. See you tonight!”

“Yeah, you too! And thanks!”

Toni ran out of the flower shop and hailed another cab. Her bank account was not going to be happy with the number of cab trips she was having to do today.

She got to the sandwich place that she and Cheryl had agreed on for lunch and quickly placed their orders. It was busy, but after about ten minutes, she had her two foot-long sandwiches and four bags of chips. The plan was to not eat all of it in one sitting, since they were about to have to dance, but they would be eating it throughout the day until rehearsal.

When Toni actually arrived at DHS with her bag of food, she was definitely feeling tired from the stress of the last hour and a half. Finally, she navigated through the building to find where Cheryl was finishing up with the Pixies. She peeked into the room and saw them all dancing. The song, which Toni had heard before when she watched Hannah and Cheryl practice, was “Freaking Me Out” by Ava Max. She smiled to herself, because the song was strangely fitting for the past few months.

She hung out outside the room, resisting the urge to watch the dancers inside so as to not be caught, until she heard their director give them a few tips and then dismiss them. The girls began filing out of the room, all but Hannah and Cheryl at first, and then the two of them emerged. Cheryl was in the middle of saying something to Hannah, but then she noticed Toni and was instantly distracted.

“Hey! You’re here already!” Cheryl said in surprise. “You texted and said you might be late.”

“Yeah, well, I sprinted across New York City to bring you this food,” Toni teased. She smiled at Hannah. “Hey, Hannah.”

“Hi, Toni,” Hannah replied, smiling back. “You two have a good lunch, I need to figure out what I’m going to eat.”

“See you tonight,” Cheryl said, waving at the blonde as she walked off.

The two of them went to the room that they would be rehearsing in soon, because it was the only one that was going to be empty for the whole half hour. They sat down by the mirror and Toni passed Cheryl her sandwich. “There’s a bunch of chips in there too,” Toni told her. “I’m not going to let you starve until after the show.”

Cheryl smiled. “Oh, TT. You’re so sweet.” They started eating the sandwiches, and Toni could tell that Cheryl was really hungry after all the rehearsing, because she didn’t say anything else until she was halfway done with her food. “So, why were you running behind schedule?”

Toni had already developed her white lie, so as to not be caught. “I spilled coffee on my leggings and I had to wash and dry them real fast.”

“Oh, well good thing they’re black and didn’t stain.”

Toni nodded in agreement, and continued to eat. The outfit that the Monday class was wearing for the performance was simple black dance leggings and a loose, white tank top, with a purple bandana tied around their head. It was a simple outfit, because the beginner classes didn’t go as hardcore with performance outfits.

Cheryl wasn’t wearing her performance outfit yet, she was wearing a typical rehearsal outfit. But for the Pixies performance, they were all wearing red leggings and a black leotard, all skin tight and with nothing else over it. Toni was really excited to watch their performance from backstage.

At two, when everyone was arriving, they put their leftovers back in the paper bag and got ready to rehearse. Toni was pretty sure that she’d eaten a little too much to be fully comfortable while dancing, but after about half an hour, she felt better. Lucky for Cheryl, she mostly got to stand back and watch the class dance. It wasn’t like they needed to watch her anymore, they knew the steps. Although, Toni knew that Cheryl did the dance better than any of them.

“You excited for this?” Veronica asked, about halfway through their rehearsal time, when they took a five minute water break. It was past three now, and their rehearsal time ended at four. After that, they were all free to rehearse in one of the other rooms, or leave and come back, or whatever. Some people couldn’t make it at two because of work, so those people would have to come late and rehearse before the show started at seven. Thanks to Veronica, Toni had had no problem getting the day off.

The rehearsals for the rest of the week would be less intense, they would just be required to arrive an hour early to run through the dance once each time. Plus, not everyone was required to be at every show, some people couldn’t make it so their group size would be smaller on some days. But, regardless, they hadn’t had a chance to rehearse much the previous week, so today was very important.

“Yeah,” Toni answered Veronica, “I’m excited. Actually, a little bit nervous, too.”

“Well, we’re great, so no need to be nervous.”

Toni chuckled. “Yeah. I guess the rest of the week will be easier, though. Once we’ve done it already, you know.”

“It’ll be great, seriously,” Veronica insisted. “We have a great teacher, but I  _ know _ that you know that.”

Toni chuckled, taking a sip of her water and then returning to her spot in the room.

The rest of the day was a blur up to the performance time. So many people were running around between rooms rehearsing, and those who weren’t rehearsing at any give time were hanging around the hallways snacking or just hanging out with everyone else. Toni didn’t get to see much of Cheryl, because she had to go rehearse with another class after theirs, so she went with Veronica and Kevin to hang out in one of the hallways.

“So, are you two planning on taking another class for the spring?” Kevin wondered.

“Probably not,” Veronica said. “This was fun, but it was just temporary for me.”

“Yeah, same,” Toni agreed. “I’m glad we did it though. Lots of good came from it, obviously. Dancing is fun, but it’s not really my thing. At least, not enough that I feel the need to keep paying to do it. I’ll just have Cheryl teach me to dance if I get bored.”

Kevin laughed. “That’s fair. I told Fangs he should try it, but he’s very opposed.”

“Fangs isn’t really the graceful, dancer type,” Veronica told him with a laugh.

“Yeah well, I think he would look hot in tights,” Kevin commented, shrugging.

Toni snickered. “I bet if you ask nicely, he’ll get in tights for you anyway.”

Kevin hummed thoughtfully, and Toni could tell he was fighting a smirk. “I guess that should be my next move, huh?”

“You know, it’s so weird that we all starting dating our SOs right around the same time,” Veronica said. “Our anniversaries are all going to be at like, the same time.”

“That’s good, though,” Toni insisted, “it means none of us will bother each other during anniversary dates because we’ll all be busy.”

Veronica chuckled. “That’s one way to look at it.”

“Yeah, man, a couple months ago, I was that single, nerdy, musical theater guy… and now I’m a taken, nerdy, musical theater guy,” Kevin said with a goofy grin. “And Toni somehow managed to get  _ Cheryl _ , who basically never smiled, to date her, and also now I’ve seen her smile like, an uncountable number of times.”

Toni smiled proudly. “She just needed some coaxing out of her shell.”

“I guess so,” Kevin agreed. “Hey, speaking of, I don’t know if I ever fully apologized for the not so great things I said about her when you two first started talking. I honestly didn’t know better, and I had no idea that things were actually going to go anywhere for you two, and… yeah.”

Toni smiled. “You are forgiven. Cheryl might appreciate hearing that too, but I know that your intent wasn’t bad.”

“Aw that was adorable,” Veronica said with a smile, clasping her hands together. “Now, let’s have some snacks, because if we eat too much later than now, performing is gonna suck, but if we don’t eat anything else, I’m going to feel like shit after.”

Toni nodded in agreement. “Couldn’t agree more. Let me go get my chips.”

* * *

Cheryl Blossom looked at herself in the mirror, poised in the starting pose she had been perfecting the past few weeks. Even as she focused on her position and her even breathing, counting in her head before the music started, she could sense the bodies of her fellow dancers, poised with her. She could feel the energy between them all, waiting for the music to cue them. She could see her body move before it needed to, preparing herself for the coming three minutes.

It was the Pixies’ last rehearsal, one more run through, before the show started. Cheryl felt the familiar sense of urgency that came with the first day of performance week, combined with excitement and slight nerves. But she also felt more joy than she ever had before a dance. Because the dance was not the only thing she had to make her happy in this moment. She knew that her girlfriend was just down the hall, also getting ready to perform, and that her friends were here to support her. She knew that she had friends within this very room.

And when the music started, her focused expression included a small smile, allowing her to relax just the perfect amount to perfect the fluid movements she needed to do. She closed her eyes as she danced, not even needing to see herself in the mirror to know what her body was doing, to know what everyone else was doing. She was one with the music, one with the beat, and one with the Pixies.

The song ended, and Quince clapped. “Honestly, girls, I haven’t seen you guys dance this well together in  _ so _ long. I’m proud of you all. This is going to be a great show. And, Cheryl, I was wondering if you wanted to go out and give the opening speech?” he asked, smiling proudly at her.

“Oh,” Cheryl said in surprise, “sure, yeah.”

“Great. Come here, I’ll give you the script.”

She followed him to the side of the room, and he handed her a sheet of paper with the welcome speech on it. “By the way,” he said in a whisper, “a casting director is here tonight. He wouldn’t tell me what he’s casting for, just that it’s a modernized version of a classic ballet, and he’s got his eye on the Pixies, and you specifically.”

Cheryl’s jaw dropped. “Seriously?”

“Seriously,” Quince confirmed. “So go out there and be amazing. Not that you’re anything less than that.”

“Thank you for letting me know,” Cheryl said, feeling like she was in shock.

He smiled and nodded, and Cheryl left the room. She decided not to mention the director to Toni until after the show, because if she thought about it to much, she might psych herself out.

But she went and found her girlfriend and friends to tell them that she was going to read the opening speech. And then about ten minutes later, it was time for her to do exactly that.

She stepped out onto the stage, looking out at all of the people, gave her best smile, and began to read the welcome speech. “Hello, good evening, my name is Cheryl Blossom, and it’s my pleasure to welcome you to the New York Dance Hall and Studio’s Winter Performance!” The audience applauded, and Cheryl held for a moment before continuing. “This is our first performance of the week, and we are thrilled that you are here to join us. There will be an intermission halfway through the night with light refreshments in the foyer, and we ask that you please save any phone calls for that time.”

She cleared her throat. “Tonight, you will see the performances of our multiple sponsored dance groups, as well as all of our dance classes. Many of our performers also teach those dance classes, I myself being one of them, and we are all so proud of how far our students have come this season.” Another brief round of applause. “I hope that you will enjoy the show!”

She smiled at the crowd and then walked off of the stage. She’d done the end speech before at a show, but never had she been asked to do the opening speech, and she felt a sense of pride as she walked back stage. She saw the first group of dancers running behind the curtain and preparing to dance, as she walked back into the hallway to meet up with the Pixies.

* * *

Toni wasn’t technically allowed backstage until her class was performing, but when she saw the Pixies making their way into backstage, she couldn’t  _ not _ follow them. She caught the stage manager starting to come over to her as she slipped in after the group. “What are you doing back here?” the girl hissed.

“Uh, see, I’m performing later, so I can’t go out into the audience, but my girlfriend is about to perform, and I really wanna watch… Do you mind? I won’t touch anything, I’ll just peek out,” Toni said, giving the girl a hopeful smile.

She huffed. “Who’s your girlfriend?”

“Cheryl Blossom,” Toni answered, smiling another one of her hopeful smiles.

The stage manager hummed. “Okay, fine. But no cheering. You can applaud at the end whenever else does, but you can’t cheer or it’ll sound wonky.”

“Okay, deal!” Toni said with glee, then walking closer to the side of the stage.

She heard the music start just as she got into a good position to see. The people working the stage were also all crowded around, so she felt like she blended in. Immediately, her gaze fell on her beautiful girlfriend, who was dancing in sync with the other Pixies. She immediately got lost in watching, knowing that her eyes didn’t leave Cheryl for a second.

Toni would never get tired of watching her girlfriend dance.

When the Pixies finished, they all struck their ending pose, and then the curtains began to close. Only once they were completely closed did the six girls move, and they all started for side stage. Toni quickly darted aside to make way, and caught Cheryl’s hand as she started out of backstage. “Hey,” Toni said with a grin.

“Toni!” Cheryl exclaimed in surprise. “How are you back here?”

“The stage manager let met watch,” Toni answered.

“How did you manage that?”

Toni shrugged. “I said I was your girlfriend and she was fine with it. She probably thinks you’re cool.” Cheryl rolled her eyes as they exited backstage into the hallway. “But anyway, you did amazing out there, babe. Seriously. You were  _ so _ hot—I mean good. Well, both.”

Cheryl smiled gratefully. “Thank you, TT. Are you feeling ready to dance?”

“Ready as ever, I guess,” Toni answered, shrugging. “I think it’ll be fun. But I haven’t really performed in any way in front of a crowd since high school, so it definitely is going to be… interesting.”

“Well, it’s kind of nerve-racking, but usually you get a rush of adrenaline and you don’t notice it anymore,” Cheryl assured her. “You’re going to do great, TT.”

Toni smiled at her girlfriend. “Thanks.” Cheryl surprised her by suddenly giving her a quick kiss, and Toni grinned into it as she kissed her girlfriend back.

“Break a leg,” Cheryl said teasingly, winking at Toni and then turning around to follow the where the Pixies went. Toni smiled to herself and went back over to Veronica and Kevin.

“Was it everything you’ve ever dreamed, watching your girlfriend dance from behind where you can stare at her ass?” Veronica asked with a snicker.

“Yes, yes it was,” Toni answered.

A little while later found the three of them, and their class, preparing to walk backstage. Cheryl reappeared at this point, reminding them of a few things and to remember to look alive. And then the class walked back stage, hurried into their positions behind the curtain, and then the curtain opened up.

Toni felt her heart pounding when the music started, but then she stopped noticing it. She blocked out the fact that there was a crowd, and she just followed the choreography that she had been memorizing for two months now. It was easy to recall, and halfway through, she realized that she was actually having a lot of fun.

And when the end of the song arrived, and the dance ended, and the crowd applauded, Toni felt a grin come to her face. Maybe this wasn’t really her thing, but it was definitely invigorating.

* * *

After the show, Hannah and Maribel went out onto the stage to give the first closing speech of the week, and Cheryl began to help get things cleaned up for the night. However, as she started down the hallway to go to one of the rooms and help clean up, she was suddenly approached by a man.

“Miss Blossom?” he asked, drawing her attention immediately.

“Yes?” she replied, looking him up and down and wondering who he was.

“My name is Jackson Reed, could I talk to you for a minute?” Cheryl’s eyes widened slightly as she realized that this was probably the casting director that Quince had mentioned earlier.

“Yeah, of course,” she said.

“I’m a casting director for the New York City Ballet, and I would love to meet with you sometime to discuss an opportunity with a modernized ballet we are trying to put together,” he said with a smile. “I can’t give you many details today, but if we could meet sometime next week, would you be interested?”

Cheryl felt her heart flutter in excitement. “Yes, of course I would,” she answered, knowing that she was practically beaming.

“Great,” he said, pulling out a business card. “Here’s my phone number and email. Go ahead and shoot me an email when you get the chance this week, and let me know your lunch availability.”

“Will do,” Cheryl said, “thank you so much.”

“You’re welcome,” he said with a little chuckle. “Now, I don’t want to hold you up. Wonderful performance tonight. I can’t wait to talk more.”

“Thank you, and me too,” she said. He nodded with another smile, and then headed back toward the exit of the building.

Cheryl nearly squealed in excitement once he was gone. She didn’t know what to do with herself for a moment, but before she could figure it out, Toni had appeared next to her. “There you are!” Toni exclaimed. “Did you see our performance? Did we suck?”

Cheryl blinked, bringing herself back to reality. “Yes, I did,” she answered. “You did not suck, you did amazing.” Toni grinned.

“Thanks. What’s that?” she asked, looking at the business card.

Cheryl grinned. “A casting director for New York City Ballet talked to me! He wants to meet me for lunch next week and talk about a modernized ballet they might cast me for!”

Toni’s jaw dropped. “Oh my god, babe, that’s amazing! I’m so proud of you! You seriously deserve it.”

“Thank you,” Cheryl said, unable to keep the grin off of her face. “Quince told me that he would be here, which is why he sent me out to do the opening speech. I didn’t mention it because I didn’t want to jinx it, but I’m just so happy. After what happened last year, I was sure that getting cast in anything was going to be more effort than it was worth, but now—”

“—Now,” Toni interrupted, “someone has just noticed how amazing you are. You didn’t even have to do anything special.”

Cheryl smiled. “Yeah.”

“I’m proud of you,” Toni said softly.

“I love you.” Cheryl hardly realized that she was planning on saying the words until they’d escaped. Toni’s eyes widened just slightly, but she responded quickly.

“I love you too, Cher,” she said.

“Hey, Blossom!” Therese called suddenly. “Wanna give us a hand?”

Cheryl looked over at her fellow dance teachers and Pixies, who were looking to be carrying some things back from stage. She glanced back at Toni. “Wait for me in the lobby?”

* * *

Toni sat in the lobby for about an hour. She’d seen Sweet Pea and Fangs, said goodbye to them, Veronica and Kevin, and now she sat on one of the benches near the exit, a bouquet of white lilies and red roses in her hand. And finally, she heard footsteps coming from down the hallway. And there appeared Cheryl, Hannah, and a few other Pixies. All of them immediately looked at Toni, and the Pixies all went, “Ooh!”

Cheryl blushed, said goodbye to the group, and came over to Toni. “You got me flowers?”

Toni smiled sheepishly as she stood up. “Yeah… this is the real reason that I was almost late earlier,” she admitted. “I asked Sweet Pea to pick up a bouquet, they ran out, the clerk wasn’t helpful, and so I had to run over there and pick another bouquet.” She extended the flowers to the redhead, who took them gratefully.

“They’re beautiful, Toni,” Cheryl said softly, bringing them close to her face so as to smell them. She let out a happy sigh at the scent. “Thank you.”

They started to walk out of the building. “Do you wanna get a cab, or take the subway?” Toni questioned.

“Let’s take the subway,” Cheryl suggested. “My feet kind of hurt, but I feel like walking a bit.” Toni smiled and nodded, and they started the walk toward the underground.

As they walked, she could feel Cheryl tensing a little. “Hey, you okay?”

“Just… Hannah was talking to me while we were cleaning up. She said that you and I seem really happy together, and that I was really lucky to have you,” Cheryl said, “and she’s right. I’m really lucky to have you. You’ve been there for me ever since we started talking. And I… I just don’t know what I’ve done to make  _ you _ love  _ me _ . You’ve done everything imaginable to make  _ me _ love  _ you _ … but the other way around?”

Toni blinked in surprise at the inquiry. “Babe,” she said, “just because I haven’t been going through anything really difficult lately doesn’t mean you haven’t been there for me. And what’s important is that I know you would be there for me if I did go through something difficult. I trust you. I  _ love _ you. You’ve had a rough couple of months of getting through some shit that you’ve been stuck in the middle of.”

“Yeah, and amidst all that, have I done  _ anything _ for you?”

Toni narrowed her eyes. “Yes, Cheryl. You have. I’ve never felt this lucky before. I’ve learned so much from you. I watched you stand up to your mother, I watched you open up to me despite all of the bad relationship and friendship experience you’ve had. You taught me what being strong is. And I’ve gotten to open up to you about my past. And you’ve never made me feel bad about anything I’ve ever gone through. And… to be honest, I haven’t had much direction in my life since I started working for Veronica. But now… I want to have a future with you. I  _ love _ you. And like I said before, I trust you, and I haven’t been able to be in a real relationship where I trusted the other person in a while. I know that if I was going through anything like you have these past couple of months, you would be there for me. There’s not a doubt in my mind.”

Cheryl was smiling now, and Toni was sure that she saw tears in the other girl’s eyes. “I love you too,” Cheryl whispered. They’d stopped walking, Toni realized, and were just standing by the wall on a mostly empty sidewalk with the occasional passerby. “I’m always going to be here for you, TT.”

“I know, Cher.”

Cheryl squeezed Toni’s hand. “Come on, we have a hot bubble bath to get to.”

“Oh, do we?” Toni asked with a chuckle.

“Unless you don’t want it?”

Toni shook her head. “Oh no, I want it.”

“That’s what I thought,” Cheryl said with a slight smirk and a wink. And with that, they continued their walk back to Cheryl’s apartment, hand in hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Awwww! :D  
> I hope this ending was satisfactory :) I felt it was a fitting place to end.  
> This story may not be the best one I've ever written (I mean, it's all subjective of course), but it's so special to me because it was the first full thing I had posted in a year! A YEAR! If you know me from Twitter or any other fandoms, you may know that I never took a break from posting fanfic for that long. Literally, from December 2012 to December 2018, I posted very consistently. But my writing, after September 2018, really dwindled. So being able to finally get something completely written at the end of 2019 was amazing. And now that we're a month into 2020, I am so confident that I will be able to keep writing for you all! For a while there, it was touch and go haha.  
> You all are so sweet and amazing and I appreciate you all so much for spending any amount of time here reading this story, kudosing, commenting, following me on Twitter, everything. This Thursday, I will be posting my NEW Choni story. I am SO excited for you all to read it!  
> If you want to hear a little bit about what's going to be in the new story... I gave a little sneak peek in the YouTube vlog I posted this morning, the link to which can be found on my Twitter @BrittzandTana <3 Free of charge ;D Feel free to follow me on Twitter to hear more about future updates and stories! I actually have another story in mind already that I'm letting ruminate while I reread the new one to get it ready to post haha. So hopefully by next weekend I'll have started a new story!!  
> Again, thank you all so much for supporting my return to Ao3! I hope you all have a lovely week! Maybe I'll see some of you on Thursday ;D

**Author's Note:**

> Hello loves! Thank you for reading! Updates are going to be every 3ish days, because I post sneak peeks and whatnot before the final chapter goes up. Follow me on Twitter @BrittzandTana to find out more about that. Also, feel free to follow me there just to chat or to hear updates on my writing! I always tweet out new updates, so if you don't have an account, I recommend following me there to see when updates come out! Again, thank you for reading, I appreciate it very very much, and I hope you have a lovely day!


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